AllMovie

Though seldom discussed outside of Scandinavia, Finland houses one of the most conservative religious communities in Western Europe. The Laestadians, a group of about 110,000 people, recall the Mennonites with their insistence on taking scripture literally and forbidding their members from partaking in all pleasures deemed hedonistic and "worldly" -- such as dancing, premarital sex, alcohol, television, movies, and birth control. Director Dome Karukoski's (Home of the Dark Butterflies) melodramatic, brooding, coming-of-age feature Forbidden Fruit examines how two Laestadian teens cope with the impositions foisted upon them by the surrounding community. At the center of it all is Maria (Amanda Pilke), a brass-tongued young woman who rejects the Laestadian community's asceticism straightaway and moves to metropolitan Helsinki. Alongside her headfirst plunge into a no-holds-barred lifestyle, she rationalizes her choices by leaning on the idea that she can always return to the Laestadians and have her sins washed clean at a later point. Meanwhile, the community elders grow deeply concerned over Maria's decision to leave the fold, and send the young woman's best friend, über-conservative Raakel (Marjut Maristo) out into the world to bring the prodigal back. Unsurprisingly, Raakel adores the worldly pleasures she experiences and soon caves into them, demonstrating no desire whatsoever to return to the cocoon of self-denial in which she was kept.