The Dissidents

The Dissidents is an action comedy set in Soviet-era Estonia. The story follows three rebellious young men who abandon their lives to escape to Sweden. While they are initially viewed as heroes for crossing the Iron Curtain, the men soon find that life in the West is not the paradise they imagined and must face the mundane reality of finding employment as immigrants.

The film was directed by Jaak Kilmi, marking the start of a directorial sequence that includes The Shadow and Dirt in Your Face. It was written by Martin Algus and produced by Kristian Taska. The main cast features Märt Pius, Karl-Andreas Kalmet, and Veiko Porkanen, supported by a total of 71 credited actors. This joint production between Estonia, Latvia, and Finland was made with a budget of 1 million USD.

Audience reception is mixed across different platforms. On IMDb, the film holds a rating of 6.4/10 based on 1,200 votes. On TMDB, it has a lower rating of 5.7/10 from 14 votes.