Mari, a sensitive, introverted teenager, is abandoned by her father after losing her mother, and sent to an orphanage that feels more like a prison. Her near-fatal struggle for survival is marked by pain, tears, and the bittersweet sting of first love, all unfolding against the tangled, thorny paths of her fellow residents.

The penultimate film by Estonian cinema icon Leida Laius, and the directorial debut of Arvo Iho, uses the orphanage’s hostile microcosm to reflect the alienation and warped logic of late Soviet society.

“Smile at Last” was acclaimed at international festivals, winning the UNICEF Award at Berlinale (1987) and the Prix Graine de Cinéphage at the Créteil International Women’s Film Festival (1990). The film was digitised in 6K by the National Archives of Estonia and restored in 4K by Locomotive Classics in 2024.

Eva Näripea