By Kip Mooney• On • In NewsNewsComments Off on Mubi Acquires Fitness Influencer Satire “Sweat”
No matter what your interests are on social media, it's almost impossible to avoid influencers, especially in the fitness space. Pushing bogus supplements and expensive clothes, there are thousands of identical Size 0 women fighting for attention and sponsorships. It's fertile ground for satirization and exploration, and Swedish director Magnus von Horn has set his sights on this candy-colored world.
Sylwia (Magdalena Koleśnik) is one of the internet's most beloved celebrities, but the demands of her lifestyle are beginning to catch up with her. That bright aesthetic and perfect-seeming life are hiding some serious darkness. The film was deemed an official selection at last year's Cannes Film Festival. It also won an award at the Chicago International Film Festival.
Sweat will be released in select theaters on Friday, June 18.
About Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about.
I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague.
Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work.
In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo.
I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.