Direction: Magnus von Horn
Country: Poland / Sweden
In Sweat, Magnus von Horn’s uptight psychological drama, a fitness influencer goes through an emotionally vulnerable phase, exposing her yearning for a true relationship on the social media, where she reigns with 600k followers. Hyper energetic while working out in public but melancholic while by herself, the motivator Silwia Zajac (Magdalena Koleśnik) just wants to be herself and show the world she’s a real person in a world of artificiality. She sulks at her mother’s birthday party and gets agitated with the stalker (Tomasz Orpinski) who is daily parked in front of her building. Once her lifestyle starts to overwhelm, pressure comes from fans, sponsors, media, and even the ones around her.
The film sets off in a throbbing, irritating way but then suddenly grows in emotion, expanding toward an unexpected direction that will make you sympathize with the central character regardless of her flaws. Some of the film's observations about societal expectations and loneliness are more on-the-mark than any vigorous body moves it puts on display.
Sweat survives its glossy production varnish due to the emotional stakes of the plot and a confident performance by Koleśnik, who doesn’t vacillate when it comes to choosing between honesty and hypocrisy. The tension sometimes wanes along the way, but the final stretch ensures that the film ends on a fairly compelling note.
