The Other Side of Hope (Finnish: Toivon tuolla puolen) is a 2017 Finnish comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by Aki Kaurismäki. Plot In Helsinki, Waldemar a traveling shirt salesman quarrels with his wife and leaves her. He decides to exit his business and sells his remaining shirts. He gambles his newfound cash at a poker game and wins big. With his winnings he buys a restaurant. His three employees are initially skeptical of Waldemar's attempts to reinvigorate their restaurant. At the same time, Khaled shows up in Helsinki illegally on a cargo ship. He turns himself in to the police and applies for asylum. At the refugee processing facility he's sent to, he befriends Mazdak, an Iraqi refugee. Khaled asks Mazdak to help him with his search for his sister, Miriam, who was lost during their journey through the Balkans for refuge from the Syrian Civil War. When the Finnish government denies Khaled's asylum application after an interview, Khaled escapes from the facility. Waldemar finds Khaled hiding near his restaurant, gives him refuge, and hires him. Waldemar and his staff help Khaled get new papers. Mazdak eventually hears from Miriam. Waldemar and Khaled hire a trucker to smuggle her from Lithuania, where she was in a refugee facility. Khaled and Miriam reunite. It is hinted that the trucker raped Miriam during the journey, though her brother does not realize this, and that this may not have been her first experience of sexual violence during her migration. She is also upset at her brother for getting her smuggled out without her consent. Shortly thereafter, Khaled returns home back to Waldemar's apartment. On the way he is harassed by a racist thug who stabs him nearly to death. Waldemar sees pools of blood when he comes back to his place, and goes out to find Khaled. Khaled is sitting under a tree on the bank of a river, smiling as a small dog licks his face.