Sweat review – the loneliness of the social media influencer

In theory, it should be possible to create a drama about a social media influencer and motivational fitness celebrity that isn’t all about the hidden loneliness and shame of her shallow existence. It should be possible to show such a person being a huge hit in public and perfectly content in private. But this movie from Polish director Magnus von Horn pretty much goes for route one, and despite some interesting touches, it promises much more in terms of shock and character insight than it ever really delivers, with some contrived and unconvincing plot transitions.

Sylwia (Magdalena Koleśnik) has 600,000 followers for the Instagram account on which she obsessively posts, detailing every aspect of her day as a successful single woman, running colossally popular fitness events with her beefcake male assistant Klaudiusz (Julian Świeżewski). He clearly has a major thing for her, though at one crucial moment he shows a very implausible kind of restraint. She is living in a sleek apartment with her adorable dog, Jackson; there’s a new fitness DVD out and everything seems to be going well.

But she’s recently gone viral with a video in which she tearfully confessed to wretchedness at not having a boyfriend and, far from praising her emotional honesty or caring for her mental health, Sylwia’s sponsors are hinting this is a downer and they may cancel her contract. To make things worse, Sylwia has a creepy stalker hanging out outside the apartment block and it is the birthday of her widowed mum Basia (Aleksandra Konieczna), who is hosting a party at which all the family are invited, including Sylwia’s beamingly pregnant cousin.

There are some good scenes in the mix here: particularly when an old schoolfriend of Sylwia bumps into her at the mall and starts miserably confessing the grim things that are happening in her life, so different, of course, from Sylwia’s ostensible glamorous success. But this film isn’t really sure where it’s taking us and how, or if, it wants to surprise us, and the key scene with Klaudiusz doesn’t work.

• Sweat is released on 25 June in cinemas and on Curzon Home Cinema