Finnish Body Horror 'Tick Fever' Turns Lyme Disease Into the Least of Its Worries

Finnish director Sebastian Granskog is preparing "Tick Fever," an absurd body horror film in which a bloodsucking tick literally latches onto a failing relationship. Producer Mia Palmgren's Character House, the company behind "A Mother" and the 2024 hit comedy "Wingman the Movie: All In" — the third most-watched film in Finnish theaters that year — produces the project, which was presented for the first time at the Finnish Film Affair in Helsinki.

"Every Finn has learned to live in fear of ticks since the summers of their childhood. It's a tiny insect that latches onto your body, breaks through your skin, starts drinking your blood and grows bigger as it takes what it wants from you," Granskog says. "They're pretty much the perfect metaphor and monster for a horror movie."

Palmgren agrees. "When Sebastian mentioned ticks, it instantly clicked. How has there not been a horror film about these little monsters before?" she says. In "Tick Fever," described by Palmgren as a film about "bloodsucking ticks, growing anxiety and a relationship way past its due date," the insects embody the anxiety of the two lead characters.

"And, as is usually the case with anxiety, the more you try to fight it, the stronger it grows," Granskog adds.

The leads, Victor and Stella, are a codependent couple who cannot live together but also cannot break up. Actors Elias Salonen ("Kalevala: The Story of Kullervo") and Anna Böhm ("Valhalla Project") portray them in the film's exclusive first concept art.

"It's pretty much over between them, but the world is a scary, anxiety-inducing place, so they keep trying to hold onto their relationship. Eventually, fear and anxiety start to seep through the cracks of their safe bubble and manifest as a tick that latches onto Victor," Granskog explains. Victor tries to get rid of it, slowly losing his grip on reality and pushing Stella further away.

"They need to decide if they're going to keep doing this to themselves or just let go of each other and move on," the director says.

Producer Laura Laaksonen brings a personal connection to the material. "I was in a relationship like this in my early twenties," she says. "It was sucking the life out of me, but I just couldn't leave. I found Stella's story incredibly relatable. She doesn't want to admit the relationship has failed because she thinks that would mean admitting that she has failed too."

For Laaksonen, the genre itself carries the emotional weight. "What fascinates me about body horror is how the threat can come from within, and how the characters' attempts to regain control can make things worse," she says. "Beyond the gore, there's room to explore who these people are and what drives them. That emotional depth is what makes the physical horror so compelling to me."

The team, along with the Finnish Film Affair — which spotlighted similar projects this year through its Nordic Lab Genre program — argues that the world needs more Nordic horror. "We have so much to offer and so much to draw from. Our nature, our wacky mythology, our deadpan dark humor," says Granskog.

"We have quite a dark sense of humor up here in the Nordics, and when it's mixed with horror in the right way, it creates a brilliant sweet spot where you're never quite sure whether to laugh or look away," Palmgren adds. "Sebastian brilliantly balances horror, relationship drama and social satire in this film, and the world he has created is horrifyingly relatable."

Palmgren previously worked with Granskog on the horror short "The Locker Room," but "Tick Fever" marks their first feature together. The film is currently being set up as a co-production between the U.K. and the Nordics.

Granskog intends the film to be graphic and funny at once. "As a horror fan, gore has me giggling in my seat when I'm watching a movie. I would love to make this film with practical effects. I hope we can accomplish that, at least mostly," he says.

Palmgren confirms the ambition, with mixed feelings about what it means on set: "Sebastian has made it pretty clear that he wants the tick to be made with practical effects. I don't look forward to seeing giant ticks come to life on set. Or maybe a little bit."

With its Finnish Film Affair introduction and a U.K.-Nordic co-production structure now taking shape, "Tick Fever" positions itself as a test case for whether Nordic horror — deadpan humor, mythology and all — can travel beyond the region's borders.