Sweat (2020 film)

Sweat
Sweat
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Magnus von Horn
Written by	Magnus von Horn
Produced by	Mariusz Wlodarski
Starring	Magdalena Kolesnik; Julian Swiezewski; Aleksandra Konieczna; Zbigniew Zamachowski;
Cinematography	Michal Dymek
Edited by	Agnieszka Glinska
Music by	Piotr Kurek
Production; companies	Lava Films; Zentropa Sweden; Film i Väst; Canal+ Poland; EC1 Łódź – The City of Culture; Opus Film; DI Factory;
Distributed by	Gutek Film (Poland); TriArt (Sweden);
Release dates	14 September 2020 (TIFF); 12 March 2021 (Sweden); 18 June 2021 (Poland);
Running time	105 minutes
Countries	Poland; Sweden;
Language	Polish
Box office	$11,546

Sweat is a 2020 drama film written and directed by Magnus von Horn. It stars Magdalena Kolesnik, Julian Swiezewski, Aleksandra Konieczna and Zbigniew Zamachowski.

Synopsis

Sylvia Zajac, a fitness motivator influencer surrounded by admirers and loyal employees, searches for true intimacy.

Cast

Magdalena Koleśnik as Sylvia Zajac
Julian Swiezewski [pl] as Klaudiusz
Aleksandra Konieczna as Basia
Zbigniew Zamachowski as Fryderyk
Tomasz Orpinski as Rysiek
Lech Lotocki as Andrzej
Magdalena Kuta as Danuta
Dominika Biernat as Wiktoria
Katarzyna Dziurska as Kasia
Wiktoria Filus as Zosia
Bartosz Sak as Kacper
Edgar Griszczuk as Eryk
Dorota Zieciowska as Italo disco star
Katarzyna Cynke as Marieta
Bogna Defecinska as Ania

Release

The film was set to have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2020, but the festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3] In July 2020, it was announced Gutek Film, TriArt and Mubi had acquired distribution rights to the film in Poland, Sweden and the United States, respectively.^[4]^[5] Sweat was released in Sweden on 12 March 2021 and in Poland on 18 June 2021.^[6]^[7]

Reception

Sweat holds a 98% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 51 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Well-acted and appropriately beautiful, Sweat takes a thoughtful, empathetic look at social media fame."^[8] The film won the Gold Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival.^[9]

In a review of the film, Giuseppe Sedia wrote for Kino Mania: "While there is no ground to label Sweat as a sophomore slump, von Horn could have gone over the argument that social influencers can have a very complex inner life just like anybody else". He also praised the performance of Zbigniew Zamachowski "who seems to come out straight from an episode of Kieślowski's Dekalog".^[10]