Directed by Arto Halonen and written by Ossi Hakala, After Us, the Flood competed in the international competition of the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF) from 8 to 20 April 2025. BIFFF is considered one of the most significant European genre film festivals, alongside the Spanish Sitges, and it is also ranked among the top five in the world.
The reviews written about the film elevated After Us, the Flood to a festival standout.
Film critic Sébastien Rombout (Dans l'ombre du projecteur) highlights in his review After Us, the Flood alongside the Korean film A Girl with the Closed Eyes as the best film of the festival (Coup de cœur BIFFF 2025): “After Us, the Flood is a true gem. A genre film just the way I love them: intelligent, intense, and deeply human... first thing that really stands out it the incredible quality of the writing… enhanced by an extremely effective direction… The film shifts into something incredibly intimate, incredibly powerful… It truly shook me.”
Loïc Smars from Le Suricate Magazine writes that the festival's most praised film, After Us, the Flood, lived up to his high expectations: “The Film grips us from the first minutes and never let’s go… Making a good movie is simple. You just need a good story and the ability to tell it well. And that’s exactly what After us the Flood does.”
Cine Maniacs movie site critics Nicolas Schaack and Samantha Pirard give After Us, the Flood their highest personal ratings compared to other films at the festival, and their overall rating elevates the film to the best-reviewed of the 35 films.
Laurent Gonel brings to the forefront in his Gonel Zone Revolution review blog the film’s acting and the emotional resonance of its story: “The casting is excellent, portraying complex, multi-faceted characters who evolve throughout the story… This is the most exciting and touching film I have seen this year, 2025, at BIFFF.
After Us, the Flood had its world premiere at the prestigious Warsaw International Film Festival in the Free Spirit competition section in October 2024. Following that, the film won the main prize, the Silver Méliès, in its competition section at the Trieste Science+Fiction Film Festival in Italy. In October 2025, After Us, the Flood has been selected to compete for the Golden Méliès award for Best European Fantasy Film alongside seven other nominees at the Sitges Festival in Spain.
BIFFF-reviews (After Us, the Flood):
Sébastien Rombout/Dans l´ombre du projecteur: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCCp_vblVXw
Par Loïc Smars Le Suricate (Films & Séries): https://www.lesuricate.org/bifff-2025-jour-10-on-rentre-dans-le-endgame-du-bifff/
Cine Maniacs/Belgia; https://www.cinemaniac.be/festival4.php?id=287
Laurent Gonel/Gonel Zone Revolution: https://www.gonel-zone.fr/festivals/bifff/after-us-the-flood/
The essential roles in the film are played by Elias Westerberg, Linnea Leino, Tuomas Nilsson, Kasperi Kola, Petteri Summanen, Antti Reini, Pihla Penttinen, Jari Salmi, Tobias Zilliacus, Jemina Sillanpää, Robert Enckell, Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Hugo Komaro, and Paavo Westerberg.
The international sales of the film are handled by REInvent Studios.
Actor Kasperi Kola and director Arto Halonen discussing about the movie at BIFFF. Photo: Vernaeve Philippe.
After Us, the Flood –trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE0-2qNkIuQ