Sweat
classified 15 PSPlease note: This was screened in July 2021
Magnus van Horn’s impressive second feature explores the life of an Instagram fitness star over three eventful days.
Fitness guru Sylwia (Magdalena Koleśnik) never stops. The division between professional and personal is one that she can little afford. After all, as an influencer, her followers demand to know about every moment of her existence. But though she has a huge following, Sylwia appears to have no one close to her, a fact made clear in a teary online confession about being single. Coming so close to a major national TV appearance, could this revelation threaten her profile? Or is it in fact just another stunt?
Van Horn’s glacial, distanced camera captures Sylwia’s world of neon and spandex to chilling effect. But as the film progresses, he questions any easy judgement about Sylwia’s profession and life choices. The resulting film is one of the first to fully engage with the Insta-age in a meaningful way and asks an age-old question question: what price fame?