During World War II, Russian soldiers used the term “cuckoo” to refer to enemy Finnish snipers who, despite being sorely outnumbered and poorly equipped, inflicted serious damage on the Red Army. When a Finn became a sniper, it was understood he wouldn’t be coming back: it was a suicide mission. As the film begins, one of those suicide-snipers (Wille) frees himself from the rock to which he’s been chained. Meanwhile, on the other side of the conflict, a Soviet officer (Ivan) who has been arrested by the Smersh (Secret Police) escapes. Each finds his way to the Lappland farm of a Saami woman (Annj) who takes them both in. The film then explores the relationship among these three characters who come from different worlds and cannot speak each other’s languages. “Cuckoo,” it turns out, is also the secret name of the woman.