To celebrate the VOD release of Joey Palmroos’ debut feature film Delivery Run, we at Starburst sat down with the Finnish director to talk all things filmmaking.
STARBURST: We really saw the inspiration from Steven Spielberg’s Duel – was that the vibe you were going for?
Joey Palmroos: Actually, you comparing this movie to Duel really means a lot – thank you for that. The idea for it actually came to me while I was driving behind a snowplough here in Finland. It was one of those light-bulb moments. I remember thinking, “Oh, can I please just pass this thing?” because they’re these huge, monstrous machines, you know?
And then I started imagining – what if I did try to pass it? It’s dark, the roads are narrow, snow is flying everywhere… what if something went wrong? Would the guy come after me? I’m there honking, thinking, “Okay, let’s not make him mad.” And then I just thought, wait a second — this could be a film!
Duel has always been one of my favourite movies – still is – and I absolutely love Spielberg. He’s a big inspiration for me and probably one of the reasons my filmmaking style leans the way it does. And of course, there are others I really admire too, like Tarantino.
The Protagonist of the film, Lee, played by Alexander Arnold, who a lot of our audience will remember from Skins is a very relatable character, which Alexander portrays brilliantly. What do you think it really is about his character or his situation that makes him relatable in order for audiences to really root for his survival?
Well, I think it’s actually pretty simple in a way. It all starts with the smallest little thing – like those envelopes of bills that just keep piling up. Right from there, you get a sense of where he’s at. I’ve been in that kind of situation myself – not to the same level, you know, not dealing with a local loan shark or anything like that – but I’ve had those moments where you start questioning even the tiniest decisions. Arguing on the phone with, not your provider exactly, but like, the delivery service or something – those everyday frustrations.
And then, of course, Reggie brings out the humanity in him. He starts to care, not just about himself, but about Reggie too. There’s something about Alex – the way he reacts, the way he handles situations – that really stood out. Like his first meeting with Mr. Blau, for example. That was something we explored a lot during casting.
It’s that genuine curiosity I was interested in capturing. He’s not a child, but there’s this childlike curiosity in him that I wanted to tap into, especially when it came to finding the magic in the film.
Throughout the whole film, there’s a lot going on. Lots of twists and turns, lots of chase scenes over very dangerous terrain. You mentioned you shot it in northern Finland – as the director, how did you and the production team tackle that particular challenge to not only make it incredibly thrilling and entertaining, but also very safe? From a logistical standpoint, it must have been a nightmare in the best way.
Yeah, it really was. And even for a Finnish group – I mean, we had such an amazing crew. Most of them were Finnish, and they’re so used to handling these kinds of projects in this part of the world. For the cast, especially those coming from the UK and the US, it was definitely a unique experience. But for the crew, it’s kind of just everyday production life here, you know?
I don’t want to sound too modest about it either – it was tricky. Some of the locations were really hard to get to. Like, if we wanted to set up a moonlight shot out in the forest, it could take hours because of the snow. So yeah, a lot of it just came down to careful planning.
We shot in this place called Tiliberon, and actually, in the movie’s prologue — I’m not sure if you caught it – but that’s me in there. That was a totally last-minute decision. There was just no way I could ask an actor to do that scene and still feel completely comfortable about their safety, even though everything was technically safe.
Another technical aspect that I really love is the attention to detail in the lighting and the grading, especially. It’s so important to really give a scope and feel of exactly what mindset the character is in, not just necessarily the location. Is that something that you’ve always liked to make sure is pretty high up on the list in terms of in post?
Yeah, no, 100%. And not just in post-production – I mean, I actually come from a commercial background, so the look of something is always really important to me. As soon as I found out we’d be filming up there, I started thinking about the kind of light we’d have in the middle of the night – that beautiful silhouetted forest in the background, the cloudy night sky, and, if we were lucky, maybe even some stars. Add a ton of snow on top of that, and it just created this perfect canvas to play with.
Then the next question was all about practicality. I really wanted to use actual vehicles and rely on practical lighting – like real headlights – instead of faking it. And then I thought, okay, cool, let’s really push it. Let’s get proper moonlight in there, make it feel cinematic but grounded. That’s also where the anamorphic lenses came in – figuring out how to use them so that Lee, the car, and especially the snowplough would pop against the background and feel alive.
Our DP, Ari Virem, was incredible. I’ve known him for years – he also comes from the same commercial world I do – so we clicked immediately. He totally understood how I see things. We got on the same page really fast, especially with me being a very hands-on director. I spend a lot of time planning my shots and making sure everything looks the way it should, but at the same time, I want my team to have room to explore. Ari got that. We share that same visual language, that same world — so it all came together naturally. And honestly, I really appreciate that.
Delivery Run is out now on VOD in the UK and US.
