| Director | Elle Márjá Eira |
| Writer | Peter Birro |
| Cast | Elin Oskal, Martin Wallström |
| Runtime | 106 minutes |
| Genre | Drama, Thriller |
| Alternate Title | Stöld |
Stolen Plot
Stolen Ending Explained: Based on the best-selling book of the same name, the Swedish film portrays the struggle of a Sámi woman trying to protect her people and her reindeer after some troublemakers were constantly killing the reindeers, day after day. Elsa is a strong, independent young woman who sees beyond her gender and stands up for the villagers – even when they do not want her to. Coupled with criminals hurting reindeers to drive out the Sámi people, she takes matters into her own hands.
Sámi people are indigenous tribes belonging to northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. They speak Sámi and are known for pursuing a variety of livelihoods – fishing, fur trapping and semi-nomadic reindeer herding.
Stolen Ending Explained
The movie begins with a young Elsa getting her first reindeer calf and choosing a pure white one. They perform their ritual and her father reminds her that they do not own the reindeer, only taken on loan. We see the life of the Sámi tribe – reindeer herders who deeply care about those animals but Elsa witnesses a brutal sight – Robert (Martin Wallström) killing her young calf. He notices her and threatens her to keep quiet.
She keeps the trauma in a small box, including the memory of her reindeer – only to grow up to be an ambitious reindeer herder while her brother looks for ways to get out of it. The Sámi people face many issues as the rest of the village wants to bring new roads, equipment, etc to secure jobs but that comes at the cost of disturbing and potentially driving away the reindeers. Elsa (Elin Oskal) stands up for her people but the rest of them shut her down for creating a ruckus.
On the other hand, Robert continues to kill reindeers day after day and while Elsa and her brother try to bring him to justice – the police do not take any action without sufficient evidence. The siblings feel helpless at the state of their lives. The back and forth irks Robert – taking a rash decision and creating a display of reindeer heads. Elsa makes a bold statement to the press regarding the situation – angering the Sámi people further.
The Ending
Elsa gets thrown out of the Sámi community meetings due to her rash move. The spokesperson began receiving death threats for the harsh words used. She still joins them for a meeting but the people are dead set to remove her from the hall. Her brother takes a stand for her and they walk out alone. In the evening, Elsa remains at home alone when Robert comes knocking at the door. She runs to the underground area and Robert gets aggressive with her. He warns her and walks out.
She goes to the police but after their preliminary investigation, they advise her to stay away from him since he cannot be arrested due to insufficient evidence. The next day, she goes to Robert’s barn area when she notices him gone. She breaks in and sees the horror – reindeer fur, the meat hanging and frozen carcasses. Revolted at the sight, she documents it all. On the other hand, Robert sees Elsa snooping around through the CCTVs and zips back. She makes a clean cut from the place but gets caught by him.
She tries to call her brother but he is going through his own dilemma. Following in his friend’s footsteps, he gets ready to take his own life. He even texts his sister ‘I’m sorry’ and gets ready but feels a little scared.
Elsa and Robert engage in an action-packed chase scene as they race to catch up on their snowmobiles but a mistimed turn causes Robert to slide onto a frozen lake. He gets trapped between the ice and his snowmobile. Elsa gets her gun ready to shoot him but seeing him sinking in the water, she tries to help him by throwing a rope but it is too late – he slips and drowns.
Her brother comes to save her and she finds out why he gets late – getting angry with him and forgetting about her situation. He apologises and they make up. The movie ends with the other culprit being arrested for killing reindeers and she gives the same advice to a small boy that she received from her father. She helps him cut and mark the ear of his chosen reindeer calf.
Stolen is streaming on Netflix.
Also Read: Stolen Review: A Tepid Attempt At Showcasing The Life of Sámi People