Kuba is an aspiring champion swimmer with an uninspiring life. He lives with his girlfriend Sylwia and his overbearing mother. One night at a gallery opening, he meets Michal who not only saves him from his boredom at the party, but also in life in general as they strike up a close friendship, which turns into an affair. This is a beautifully shot Polish drama which seemed awash with misery. It's supposed to be a heatwave, but I found it all rather cold. It even has a blue filter over everything. The chemistry is electric between the two male leads, but the passionate scenes seemed a little sharp edged.A well-acted and punchy coming out drama, but quite a devastating bummer of a film. No pun intended.

A dramatically kitsch film with a really saddening tone.

Meandering through its bleak urban setting with long, lingering shots, it eventually achieves some emotional depth, but it struggles to hold the interest along the way.

Really good drama with the story similar to many films before. What makes it outstanding is the beautiful visual side of it - erotic, dramatic, full of desire story in a harsh Polish reality. Everything perfectly balanced!Just one trivial question - I would like to know if Michal is alive...

an amazing coming out drama...surprisingly from Poland. amazing acting and stylish to a different level

Starts out as the love child of East German classic COMING OUT and the more recent WEEKEND. Sadly, the finale is of a grim tristesse not seen in gay cinema in a long time and the movie ends up seeming very dated. Mobile phones end up being the only give away that this was made in 2013, not 1993. Apparently though its pure existence is ground-breaking enough, so it might resonate differently with Polish audiences than on the international circuit.

Oftentimes films depict the consequences of deep secrets and denial on older adults. Especially poignant here is the devastation it causes on those so young.

very flawed but could have been worse...

Despite a pretty forgettable storyline and a blunt finale, Wasilewski achieves the remarkable: he conjures the world of juvenile atmosphere with the help of first-class cinematography, excellent dialogues and free-spirited acting. The movie doesn't turn the world on its head, but clearly his gay love story manages the young director to get his foot in the door.

Tomasz Wasilewski uses the bleak, rigid industrial spaces against which the film is set to neatly parallel how the lack of fluidity in modern Polish society makes it increasingly difficult for his protagonist to negotiate such choppy waters.

There's a startlingly honest tone to this difficult Polish drama, which confronts issues of sexuality and machismo in complex ways.

Builds a compelling narrative on the back of its understated performances, sexual realism and austerely beautiful cinematography.

A punchy, well-acted and devastating coming-out drama.

A plaintive cry for gay rights and familial acceptance, the film is yet erotic and often rises to the giddy heights of an ecstatic, intimate pure cinema.