''The Hater'' ( pl, Sala samobójców. Hejter) is a 2020 Polish

social thriller A social thriller is a film genre using elements of suspense and horror to augment instances of apparent oppression in society. The genre gained attention in 2017 with the release of Jordan Peele's ''Get Out'', a film highlighting occurrences ...

film directed by

Jan Komasa Jan Tadeusz Komasa (born October 28, 1981) is a Polish film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for directing '' Suicide Room'' (2011), '' Warsaw 44'' (2014), and ''Corpus Christi'' (2019), which was nominated for the Best Internatio ...

and written by

Mateusz Pacewicz Mateusz Pacewicz (born 21 June 1992, Warsaw) is a Polish award-winning screenwriter and film director. Life and career He is a graduate of the Inter-area Individual Humanistic and Social Studies (MISH) of the University of Warsaw. In 2017, he wro ...

. The plot centres around an expelled university student from

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

who attempts to steer the internet, causing widespread hatred and violence. It premiered on 6 March 2020 in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and went on to win the Best International Narrative Feature Award at

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

Premise

Tomasz Giemza, a disgraced

law student Legal education is the education of individuals in the principles, practices, and theory of law. It may be undertaken for several reasons, including to provide the knowledge and skills necessary for admission to legal practice in a particular j ...

obsessed with the progressive, upper-class Krasucki family, takes a job at a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

company. What seemed like just another assignment turns out to be a quickly developing

troll farm A troll farm or troll factory is an institutionalised group of internet trolls that seeks to interfere in political opinions and decision-making. One study showed that 30 governments worldwide (out of 65 covered by the study) paid keyboard armies ...

, where he excels in the business of spreading

fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...

and online hatred targeting famous personalities,

internet celebrities An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...

and politicians. With time, Tomasz begins to use his newly acquired skills in order to stalk, harass and ultimately control the Krasuckis.

Cast

* Maciej Musiałowski as Tomasz Giemza * Vanessa Aleksander as Gabriela 'Gabi' Krasucka *

Agata Kulesza Agata Kulesza-Figurska (; born 27 September 1971) is a Polish film, television and stage actress, and a member of the Polish Film Academy.

as Beata Santorska *

Danuta Stenka Danuta Stenka (born 10 October 1961 in Sierakowice, Poland) is a Polish actress. She is one of the leading Polish film and theatre actresses. Life and career From 1991, she spent a decade working at Teatr Dramatyczny in Warsaw, then at TR Wars ...

as Zofia Krasucka *

Jacek Koman Jacek Koman (born 15 August 1956) is a Polish actor and singer. Early life Koman was born in Bielsko-Biała, Poland, to actors Halina Koman (née Dobrowolska; born 3 January 1923) and Adam Koman (24 December 1922 – 1 December 2005), and ca ...

as Robert Krasucki *

Maciej Stuhr Maciej Jerzy Stuhr (born 23 June 1975) is a Polish actor, comedian and occasional film director. Life and career In 1999, he majored in psychology from the Jagiellonian University before moving on to study acting at Kraków's National Academy ...

as Paweł Rudnicki * Adam Gradowski as Stefan 'Guzek' Guzkowski * Jedrzej Wielecki as Staszek Rydel

Production

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began on 28 October 2018 and ended on 22 December. It was primarily filmed in

and surrounding areas. ''The Hater'' is considered a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

or a spin-off to Komasa's previous film ''

Suicide Room ''Suicide Room'' ( pl, Sala Samobójców) is a 2011 Polish drama thriller film written and directed by Jan Komasa, and starring Jakub Gierszał as a popular high school student whose life quickly deteriorates into ostracisation and depression. T ...

'' (2011).

Release

''The Hater'' was released in Poland on 6 March 2020. However, a few days after its release, cinemas and movie theaters were closed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. It was distributed worldwide in streaming by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on 29 July 2020.

Reception

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "''The Hater'' can get carried away in its contrivances, but thriller fans will enjoy its ambitious and frenzied style." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, it holds a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Ola Salwa on Cineuropa stated "The Hater is a thrilling tale of an anti-hero and of the survival of the fittest, which in this case means those who have a strong and agile thumb and index finger." Brian Tallerico from '' RogerEbert.com'' praised the film's interesting

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. A ...

narrative. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' positively reviewed the plot, stating that it "effectively integrates concerns about how easily people are manipulated". In an enthusiastic review for the

Krakow Post The ''Krakow Post'' is an English-language newspaper based in Kraków, Poland. Owned by Lifeboat Limited since 2008, the monthly newspaper covers local and national news, politics, culture, business, sports, and human interest stories. History ...

Giuseppe Sedia wrote: "Komasa deserves kudos for showing the process of polarization at work in Polish society, with all that the mayhem this could entail."

Awards

''The Hater'' premiered at

in the International Narrative Competition and won Best International Narrative Feature award. The jury comprised film professionals among whom were

Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including ''Shallow Grave'', '' Trainspotting'' and its sequel ''T2 Trainspotting'', '' The Beach'', '' 28 Days Later'', '' Su ...

and

William Hurt William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hater 2020 films 2020 LGBT-related films 2020 thriller films 2020s Polish-language films 2020s political thriller films Films about the Internet Films about social media Films produced by Anna Wasniewska-Gill Films set in Warsaw Films shot in Warsaw Gay-related films LGBT-related political thriller films Polish LGBT-related films Polish political thriller films Polish-language Netflix original films