A musical revival with road movie appeal. His long hair is thinning out, his spectacle lenses are getting ever thicker. At the start of the new decade, the 1970s Finnish rocker Badding looks to be burned out. He suffers terrible stage fright and is considering giving up music and becoming a professional gardener. But his fans and a shady pair of promoters won’t give up – they want to see Badding rock the stage again. Fleeing them all, the shy rock star meets up with his former bandmate Ossi and ends up in his car. Their journey back to their hometown in the countryside becomes a melancholy road trip that forces Badding to face painful memories. The musician’s poignant songs, often used by the Kaurismäki brothers in their films, form the heart of this somewhat nostalgic tragi-comedy about Rauli “Badding” Somerjoki, who died at 39 in 1987 of bronchitis and alcohol-related problems. The film may not stick strictly to the facts, but “Badding” spins a coherent narrative of a brilliant comeback by the ‘Finnish Elvis’.