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Sauna

Play trailer Poster for Sauna 2025 1h 43m Drama LGBTQ+ Romance Play Trailer Watchlist
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92% Tomatometer 12 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
SAUNA follows Johan, a young gay man, through his experiences with love and sex. He has just started working as a receptionist at Adonis, Copenhagen's only gay sauna, where he works and spends much of his time. For Johan, the city is like a boundless paradise of opportunities with bars, parties, and one-night stands, but it is only when he meets transgender William that he experiences love up close. The love between the two is put to a tough test as their relationship develops within a society governed by rigid ideas about gender, love, and identity.

Critics Reviews

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David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter Irrespective of some minor script weaknesses, Broe’s good-looking first feature conveys emotional maturity and a wrenching depth of feeling, without ever tipping into melodrama. Jun 27, 2025 Full Review David Opie IndieWire Sauna offers a unique yet relevant love story that treats the complexities of queer desire with nuance and compassion. Rated: B+ Feb 18, 2025 Full Review Guy Lodge Variety On occasion, the film underlines its wider social points with a heavy hand, though there’s sensual fluency and delicacy here too. Feb 6, 2025 Full Review Sara Clements Next Best Picture "Sauna" provides a rare insight into a relationship that is both beautifully complicated and profoundly significant. Rated: 7/10 Feb 26, 2025 Full Review Frank J. Avella Edge Media Network Broe explores both men's realities, one buoyed by desire and the other stymied by political and social limitations. The filmmaker cleverly examines sexual identity and orientation and where they converge and diverge. Rated: B+ Feb 17, 2025 Full Review Peter Gray The AU Review Not all audiences will appreciate this approach, but those that do will surely be enveloped by its inclusive telling of an ultimately very human, ironically universal story. Rated: 3.5/5 Feb 6, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Movie Info

Synopsis SAUNA follows Johan, a young gay man, through his experiences with love and sex. He has just started working as a receptionist at Adonis, Copenhagen's only gay sauna, where he works and spends much of his time. For Johan, the city is like a boundless paradise of opportunities with bars, parties, and one-night stands, but it is only when he meets transgender William that he experiences love up close. The love between the two is put to a tough test as their relationship develops within a society governed by rigid ideas about gender, love, and identity.
Director
Mathias Broe
Producer
Mads-August Grarup Hertz
Screenwriter
Mathias Broe, William Lippert, Mads Ananda Lodahl, Mathias Broe, William Lippert
Production Co
Nordisk Film
Genre
Drama, LGBTQ+, Romance
Original Language
Danish
Runtime
1h 43m