“Sauna” begins within the precise place you’d anticipate it to. Males writhe and moan within the shadows simply out of sight as a younger homosexual man walks by way of the darkish room at Adonis, Copenhagen’s solely homosexual sauna. It seems that he’s employed there, but is free to get pleasure from all of the perks his office has to supply. There’s no sleeping on the job, however sleeping round is simply positive. Whereas that place (and the various others he finds himself in) sounds an excellent deal higher than your common workplace position, Johan isn’t nonetheless glad.
Meaningless encounter after meaningless encounter has begun to take its toll on him, echoing the vacancy so many younger homosexual males face when their social life in a brand new metropolis consists largely of intercourse and little or no else. The script, co-written by director Mathias Broe, doesn’t condemn that, although. Just like the e book that it’s based mostly on (by Danish creator Mads Ananda Lodahl), “Sauna” explores this with out judgement, telling a narrative that’s recognizable to anybody acquainted with the hypersexual world that may include frequenting saunas of a gay selection.
Little touches, like scenes wherein Johan douches on the bathroom or casually cleans up cum within the sauna, additional floor the movie as distinctly queer in methods a straight filmmaker might by no means perceive. You possibly can virtually scent the lube and poppers wafting off the display. However “Sauna” isn’t simply one other typical homosexual pageant drama, simply as random hookups aren’t all the time as meaningless or empty as some would possibly suppose. Johan’s informed early on that he “gained’t discover pals on Grindr,” and that’s true, however what he does discover is a fair deeper connection that reframes his understanding of affection and gender past his expertise as a cis white homosexual man.
It begins innocuously sufficient with a hookup in Johan’s flat. The person who visits is shy at first, sitting on the sofa reverse along with his coat nonetheless on, even after they share a beer collectively. Johan goes by way of his regular script to assist William chill out, and it’s not lengthy earlier than the pair begin kissing. However when Johan’s groping fingers transfer to William’s chest, he’s pushed away. “Are you…?” Johan asks, realizing that William would possibly actually be a trans man. “I haven’t been with a trans man earlier than,” he says moderately naively. “Possibly it’s best to have learn my profile,” counters William, prepared to depart.
However Johan pushes by way of that preliminary awkwardness and asks William to remain anyway. So begins what Broe describes within the press notes as a “reversed Romeo and Juliet,” the place a forbidden love story evolves right into a love letter for the broader queer group and chosen household, particularly.
That’s one thing Johan is lacking at first, though it’s as a lot his alternative as something. He has a pal at work, within the sauna, and his older flatmate is looking for him too. In reality, that’s how Johan received the job and his room within the first place. But he’s closed himself off to deeper connections past how deep he would possibly go within the sauna. William’s arrival modifications that, opening him up with a tenderness that coalesces into one thing lovely and intimate, but additionally difficult.
It’s in these intimate moments the place “Sauna” resonates most, whether or not the couple in query are holding fingers the morning after or sustaining eye contact whereas Johan goes down on William. Broe’s characteristic debut isn’t simply the primary Danish film to observe a trans essential character, it’s maybe the primary movie to ever present Testogel (testosterone in a tube) lovingly and even sensually utilized by one lover to a different. William later thanks Johan with the reward of a dildo strap-on — “That’s so fucking scorching” — which we then see utilized in motion.
At a time when transphobia is flourishing even throughout the LGBTQ+ group, scenes like this converse to a extra inclusive, loving actuality between cis and trans lovers that’s nearly by no means depicted on display. That’s very important throughout the context of the story and it’s very important past that too, but Broe’s digicam doesn’t overly romanticize the intercourse. It’s sensual and it’s passionate, nevertheless it’s additionally awkward and clumsy at factors. By means of close-ups that take us in deep, we watch as Johan makes use of a pillow to prop his ass up whereas William lubes the dildo with extraordinarily genuine and not-too-sexy moist noises. (Extra proof that nobody shoots a queer intercourse scene fairly like a queer filmmaker.)
“Sauna” doesn’t draw back from the tougher realities {that a} trans character like William would face although both. In a key second early on of their courtship, Johan takes his new lover to Adonis, reassuring him that the whole lot shall be OK. Broe’s script takes us by way of each step, from getting modified within the locker room to strolling by way of and discovering a non-public room for them to get pleasure from. William makes use of a towel to get modified whereas Johan will get bare, and he stays self-conscious even when he retains a prime on nonetheless within the sauna itself. It’s not till they discover a secure house alone that William begins to chill out, solely to be chased out shortly after by the sauna’s transphobic proprietor.
In moments like this, Broe’s script (co-written with William Lippert) adeptly navigates a rounded trans story arc that encompasses each the optimistic and the detrimental with out leaning too arduous on one or the opposite. These ups and downs are threaded all through the central relationship this movie is hinged on as their emotions ebb and move with every new improvement. The chemistry between the 2 leads feels grounded in one thing actual, whether or not they’re tentatively exploring one another’s worlds or blowing up their joint world by way of outbursts, and even worse, indifference.
Magnus Juhl Andersen and Nina Rask channel this intense dynamic effortlessly — it’s arduous to think about the movie working as effectively with out them — though I did marvel at first why “Sauna” prioritizes Johan’s cis perspective over William’s trans POV. It seems although that this specific love story truly mirrors Broe’s personal private expertise, as a result of his accomplice started transitioning through the movie’s early improvement. It is sensible then that “Sauna” could be informed by way of a proxy for him moderately than a trans character exterior of his personal worldview.
Would the story be extra fascinating from William’s perspective? Maybe. However Johan’s outlook right here can be fairly distinctive within the present canon of queer cinema, and it’s vital to notice that the trans parts of the movie are sensitively dealt with with out dropping sight of William or pushing his aspect of the story into the background.
“Sauna” may not finish within the place you’d anticipate and even need it to, however that’s how love goes typically. And whereas it ‘s engaged on a really completely different aircraft to extra radical trans fare like “The Individuals’s Joker” or “I Noticed The TV Glow,” Broe’s work right here does praise a brand new wave of queer cinema that authentically speaks to the trans expertise, providing a singular but related love story that treats the complexities of queer want with nuance and compassion.
Grade: B+
“Sauna” premiered on the 2025 Sundance Movie Competition. It’s presently in search of U.S. distribution.
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