Sylwia (Magdalena Kolesnik) is more loved than she realizes – one of Poland’s rising stars, she has taken the fitness world by storm, with her knowledge of getting (and staying) in shape being coupled with her effervescent positivity, and making her a figure many people look up to, whether in one of her large-scale public workout routines, or over social media, where she has gained hundreds of thousands of followers. However, once she turns off the phone and hangs up the workout gear, all that is left is a broken, insecure young woman who may have a dedicated following of supporters, but has never left more lonely in her life. A brief encounter with a perverted fan (Tomasz Orpinski), causes Sylwia to spiral into an existential crisis, which only exacerbates her feelings of inadequacy, and forces her to address parts of her life that she didn’t realize needed to be given attention. Whether it be trying to repair a strained relationship with her emotionally-absent, and perhaps even outright manipulative, mother (Aleksandra Konieczna) and her new husband (Zbigniew Zamachowski), who Sylwia has never met, or pursuing a romance with anyone who will show her even the slightest bit of attention, and not just wax poetic about her profession, she is desperately searching for some meaning to her life, realizing that there is far more to existence than how many anonymous eyes watch you over social media, or the amount of people who heap endless praise on someone they may never even get a chance to meet. The road ahead for Sylwia isn’t very clear – she simultaneously wants to retreat from danger as much as she hopes to address it head on, since she has built her career from motivating others to take on any challenge, but fails to employ this principle on herself, dedicating her life to helping others, which eventually leads to her coming very close to falling apart entirely.

Sweat is an enigma of a film, since it is essentially just a very intimate drama about a young woman realizing the perils of fame, and failing to come to terms with the fact that there is more to life than the number of people who you engage with, whether in person or over social media. Magnus von Horn took on a wealth of complex ideas with this story, which starts as a very simple drama that doesn’t have much to say outside of its relatable premise, but gradually unravels to become a harrowing manifesto on the modern world, a story of a generation slowly eroding and succumbing to the temptations of the online world. Both the story of the trials and tribulations of the current generation who are entering into the vestiges of adulthood, and a heartbreaking tale of losing one’s individuality in the midst of a world obsessed with celebrity culture. It’s a beautiful film, and one that takes its premise very seriously – it’s absolutely admirable how Von Horn took a premise that could easily have been fertile ground for a flippant, mindless comedy and transformed it into one of the year’s most surprising endeavours, a tender and often hauntingly beautiful exploration of the psychology of one woman and her persistent pursuit for perfection, and the unravelling of everything she preaches when she realizes that her imperfections are not something that can be erased like one of her social media posts. Combining one of the year’s most incredible performances, and a story that resonates with almost heartwrenching ferocity, Sweat is immediately a work of fiction that speaks directly to the contemporary world, and through its steadfast commitment to convey a deep array of emotionally-relevant situations, the film finds the humanity in something that is often eclipsed by the desire for recognition.

Films about the perils of fame are not uncommon – many artists have dived deep into the concept, normally using Andy Warhol’s maxim that everyone will experience their “fifteen minutes of fame” at some point. In the modern world, which is driven by influencers and individuals who become stars through doing the bare minimum, this has never been more relevant. Sweat focuses on one such person in the form of Sylwia, who is an ordinary young woman who has managed to amass a large following on the basis of her work as a fitness instructor – she is neither extraordinary nor particularly talented, but rather charismatic enough to convince them of her brilliance, and hardworking enough to maintain the façade. Despite its general aura, Sweat avoids comedy, and instead jumps directly to the realm of gritty social realism, which contrasts heavily with the glamorous life of its main character. Von Horn is exceptionally creative in how he portrays the two sides of Sylwia’s life – her public persona is bubbly and outgoing, while her private life is defined by her immense loneliness and crushing insecurities that often threaten to derail her career entirely – and in the opening moments, when the protagonist accidentally shows an iota of unexpected emotion on a live stream (a departure from the overwhelming positivity that she normally spreads), the film establishes the exact direction it aims to go. Far from the overwrought “message” film that spends the majority of its running time wringing its hands and reminding us of the dangers of the modern world, Sweat is more of a subdued, quiet drama that makes a few indelible statements in between moments of revelatory insight, especially when it comes to dismantling the preconceptions we all have about fame and its various misgivings.

As a film, Sweat is almost entirely dependent on its lead actress, and Magdalena Kolesnik does exceptionally well in anchoring the film, proving to be one of the most exciting new faces in contemporary world cinema. Kolesnik is absolutely astonishing in the part of Sylwia, traversing the film’s innumerable themes with sophistication and an ease rarely found from younger performers. It’s not a particularly easy role to play, since so much of the film hinges on how she presents herself – in public, she is positive and energetic, and in private she has to convey the emotions of a woman lost in a world she simply doesn’t understand any longer, her hope gradually eroding as time marches on, and she realizes that there isn’t going to be an epiphanic moment of clarity, where everything falls into place through some divine intervention. Kolesnik is remarkable – this is easily one of the year’s best performances, a subtle but impactful powerhouse portrayal that foregoes all artifice, and instead cuts right to the core of the character, evoking all of her insecurities and placing them in contrast with a more upbeat personality that arrives at different points of the film. The actress does well in playing both sides of the characters, making this far more than just a performance – Kolesenik is doing some remarkably heavy lifting, venturing further into the psychology of her character than most would expect, and extracting some meaningful commentary from a character that would otherwise be a thin archetype had it not been placed in the hands of someone who seemed to genuinely connect to every emotion. It’s a striking performance that may not appear to be much at a cursory glance, but through an exceptionally sensitive, self-aware approach, she delivers an unbelievably strong performance. 

Sweat is a film that ends up being a lot more complex than it appears – whether in terms of the very simple approach to the filmmaking (where the director consistently refuses to cheapen the impact of the story he’s telling, always making sure to impart a wealth of meaning with every scene), or the remarkably elegant way that it covers some serious themes, the film proves itself to be something absolutely worth seeking out. It doesn’t propose to be anything more than a heartfelt, character-driven drama that gets to the root of the human condition, being incredibly aware of the world it is venturing into (and therefore being void of any of the sensationalism that often afflict films that claim to be honest depictions of contemporary life), and making sure to infuse depth into absolutely every moment, even when it becomes increasingly clear that this is doing to be an enormous departure from the self-indulgent glimpses into the trials and tribulations of the millennial generation. Every moment in the film seems so deeply authentic, which makes the abstract approach to the internal life of its protagonist – played so masterfully by Magdalena Kolesnik – all the more worthwhile. It’s a small film, and one that doesn’t ever announce itself as a staggering achievement, but rather gradually envelopes the viewer, taking us into this world and encouraging us to surrender our own views to the director’s peculiar – but not too abstract – perspective. As a result, Sweat has unprecedented depth, which it conceals cleverly behind a simple but utterly moving story of finding one’s individuality and taking on the challenges life presents to us without falling apart. It may not be easy, but it’s absolutely worthwhile – and instantly establishes Sweat as an essential work of modern socio-cultural commentary, and generally an incredible film in a number of unforgettable ways, and one well worth the time of anyone interested in strong, unflinching and honest filmmaking, which defines Sweat perfectly.