SWEAT

Directed by Magnus von Horn
Poland, Sweden | 106 min | 2020 | drama | Polish

Sweat recounts three days in the life of fitness motivator Sylwia Zając, whose presence on social media has made her a celebrity. Although she has hundreds of thousands of followers, is surrounded by loyal employees and admired by acquaintances, she is looking for true intimacy.

Credits

Director: Magnus von Horn
Screenplay: Magnus von Horn
Cinematography: Michał Dymek
Editing: Agnieszka Glińska
Production Design: Jagna Dobesz
Sound Design: Michał Robaczewski

Cast: Magdalena Koleśnik, Julian Świeżewski, Aleksandra Konieczna, Zbigniew Zamachowski

Production Company: Lava Films – Mariusz Włodarski
Co-production Companies: Zentropa Sweden, Film i Väst, DI Factory, ITI Neovision S.A., „EC1 Łódź – Miasto Kultury”, Opus Film
With support of: Polish Film Institute, Swedish Film Institute, Media Creative Europe
Associate Producers: Sophie Erbs, Tom Dercourt

Magnus von Horn
Sweden

Festivals & Awards

Cannes 2020 Official Selection

press quotes

Smartly focused story about the life and lack of soul of a social influencer (…)
An accomplished and satisfyingly hard-edged drama (…)
Sweat confirms Magnus von Horn’s status as a rising talent; it’s certainly one of the more textured and rewarding features to deal with the phenomenon of modern celebrity. With or without the Cannes Label, it would seem to be a strong contender for a healthy festival run. Theatrical interest is also likely, although given the fact that the central character only seems fully alive when she is recording bite-sized motivational messages for her 600,000 followers online, a VOD release might also be a natural fit.
Magdelena Kolesnik is well cast in the central role, capturing a brittle quality to the doggedly honed physical perfection.
SCREEN DAILY

A rivetingly sober, incisive investigation of loneliness and intimacy in the Instagram era, a psychological profile of an influencer. Von Horn observes with involving, nonjudgmental frankness the efforts that go into the maintenance of an appealing online persona. (…)

In a scene that recalls the quietly sinister tone of Michael Haneke’s CACHÉ and moral ambiguity of Ruben Östlund’s THE SQUARE, Sylwia watches from afar as someone “takes care” of the stalker at her request. It’s a strikingly envisioned turn of events that reveals much emotional depth to the protagonist. (…)

Sharply written by von Horn and performed with great subtlety by Kolesnik, SWEAT would most likely have been a hit on the Croisette.

AWARDS DAILY

Delicious (…)

Magdalena Koleśnik is just fantastic (…) a pure pleasure to shadow.

It’s refreshing to see a film that, instead of engaging in some easy social media bashing, just coolly observes it all. (…)

CINEUROPA

Trailer

Presskit (PDF)