Magdalena Koleśnik, Julian Swiezewski, Aleksandra Konieczna, Zbigniew Zamachowski
Acclaimed Swedish director Magnus von Horn’s (The Here After) sophomore feature – an accomplished uptempo study of a twenty-something social media influencer – has collected numerous awards and glowing critical praise since its first festival screenings, confirming him as a rising talent to watch.
Magdalena Koleśnik stars as Sylwia, a beloved fitness influencer with hundreds of thousands of social media followers, lucrative endorsement deals and glamorous photo spreads in magazines. Her clothes are stylish, her body impossibly toned, but off camera, all is not well, and her wide eyes hint at the anxieties she struggles to contain. As she begins to share more of herself online, growing pressure from concerned sponsors and her increasingly obsessive fans force her to confront both her deepest insecurities and her lifestyle’s exhausting demands.
Reckoning with the nature of her popularity, the vapidity of the world she has constructed around herself and the disconnect between her public and private selves in van Horn’s satisfying, hard-edged drama, Sylwia (played with effortless magnetism by Koleśnik) is a fascinating 21st century subject, whose glossy exhibitionism and heightened emotions alike will speak to young audiences familiar with the lures and risks of influencer culture.
