In January 2012, Henri Airo’s 11-year-old sister was killed in a hit-and-run by a repeat drunk driver as she crossed a crosswalk on her way home. In that instant, the family’s lives were divided into a before and an after.

While they struggled to cope with the loss, the crash was heavily investigated by the police and widely covered by the national media. Yet these investigations often felt incomplete. The police focused on technical details—crash simulations, blood tests—while media narratives reduced the case to a drama between the innocent victim and the malicious perpetrator. The resulting documents and reports examined drunk driving and alcoholism in Finnish society but largely ignored the social circumstances surrounding addiction.

Probable Cause is Airo’s documentary project exploring the circumstances of his sister’s death. It draws on media and police archives, combining them with re-enactment and visual investigation. By restructuring these narratives, the project reveals multiple personal perspectives embedded within the official record. In reconstructing the perpetrator’s day, speculation and doubt become entry points for reflecting on how addiction is perceived in Finnish society.