Original score from the 2026 drama feature film directed by Dome Karukoski, starring Pihla Viitala, Aku Sipola and Jenni Vartiainen, produced by Yellow Film & TV and released by Nordisk Film & TV Finland.

THE STORY: At a Greek wedding, two heartbroken strangers connect: Touko, still married, and Eevis, nearing separation. Complication: Touko’s wife, a famous singer, is among the guests.

THE SCORE: “Hippo Love is a film where the dialogue is the star, so the music is sparse, and each time it plays it has to mean something. The smaller cues, built from guitar textures and synthesizers, are about the main character’s journey towards a big life decision on whether to carry on in a relationship. The strings and solo violin pieces reflect on the bigger questions the characters discuss, and I let the violin sprawl the way the conversations do, drifting from the smallest moments all the way to the stars. The violin theme even makes an appearance in the source cue played on the beach, the score crossing the diegetic boundary. This is my third feature film with Dome Karukoski, and every time it’s been a truly inspiring journey in search of the ideas that live between the lines.” – Panu Aaltio

THE COMPOSER: Hippo Love marks the 14th MovieScore Media release with Panu Aaltio for whom the label released the acclaimed Tale of a Forest (2012), Tale of a Lake (2016) and Tale of the Sleeping Giants (2021), all three of which won the Best Original Score for a Documentary award of the IFMCA. The string of collaborations include The Home of Dark Butterflies (2009), Finland’s official submission for the 2009 Academy Awards and the epic Dawn of the Dragonslayer (2009), the adventure scores for The Island of Secrets (2015) and Finders of the Lost Yacht (2021) and its follow-up Rangers of the Lost Ring, as well as Super Furball (2018) and its sequels, Super Furball Saves the Future and Super Furball and the Lying Squirrel (2025). Training as a cellist since the age of six, Aaltio also studied music technology and classical composition at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and film music at the USC where he received the Harry Warren scholarship for Excellence in Film Scoring.

MMS26664 HIPPO LOVE (Rakkautta ja virtahepoja) (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music Composed by PANU AALTIO
Release date: October 2, 2026