Three days in the life of fitness motivator Sylwia Zajac, a social media celebrity surrounded by loyal employees and admirers, who is really looking for true intimacy.
“Sweat” was originally set to have premiered at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, but when that event was canceled due to Covid-19, it was announced that Gutek Film, TriArt, and Mubi had acquired distribution rights in Poland, Sweden, and the United States. The film was generally well-received with special nods across the boards to actress Magdalena Kolesnik in her breakout role as Sylwia Zajac, a social media “influencer” and fitness guru. It takes place over only three days in her life as she leads her millions of online and in-person followers to exercise and explore the possibility of becoming fit and beautiful like herself.
The film’s narrative unfolds slowly from Sylwia’s dynamic, energetic lifestyle to reveal the inner life of a shallow, narcissistic young woman who relishes the adoration of her followers yet intuits there should be more to life. She is lacking intimacy, the story of most narcissists, instead filling her internal void with chummy posts on her blog that mirror a conversation one might have with intimate friends. She seems to be inept or clueless at establishing friendships or relationships and is often pictured looking in on real-life from afar. Kolesnik is exceptional in her portrayal of Sylwia and will undoubtedly be seen more in future film roles. She deftly portrays the beautiful, perky fitness cheerleader at the beginning of the film, but as she progressively begins to question her life, she takes on a hardness to her features and her voice and mannerisms, reflecting perfectly the core of loneliness and bitterness within her.
Director Magnus von Horn makes use of the current preoccupation in the film to draw everything out slowly, making use of long shots of faces and vistas to almost belabor the point that what is important, is not a plot or story that plays out before us, but what is occurring internally with the character at hand. This technique, in vogue for at least the last ten years, and with some directors, even longer, balances the film and its characters on the edge of a knife blade. It depends on camera shots, scene design, lighting, music, and, most of all, the ability of the actor to incorporate all that is lent to him or her to bring the audience to an understanding of the emotions within that character.
From the background of this reviewer in stage production, this technique is senseless. It goes nowhere quickly on a stage where all is movement and speech intertwined with a story that takes the audience from a beginning to a definitely perceived ending without allowing attention to falter when all is happening at a snail’s pace. However, in film, allowances can be made and it is in “Sweat.” Scenes do proceed slightly faster than the aforementioned snail, but still, there is the feeling, at times, of “get on with it.” Von Horn depends on standard slow scenic compositions: i.e., shots of the main character staring out a window, which is designed to heighten the feeling of aloneness and sadness. In that respect, there could be some more auspicious editing. Overall, however, the juxtaposition of the beautiful, much-loved social media maven and the self-absorbed, lonely narcissist is appreciated as an unfortunate fusion that may easily occur in a society that exaggerates the momentousness of counting “followers,” believing them to be friends.
In Select Theaters Friday, June 18th followed by a streaming release on Friday, July 23rd
