''The Hater'' () is a 2020 Polish

social thriller A social thriller is a film genre using elements of suspense to augment instances of apparent oppression in society. The genre gained attention by audiences and critics around the late 2010s with the releases of Jordan Peele's ''Get Out'' and '' ...

film directed by

Jan Komasa Jan Tadeusz Komasa (born 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 International Feature ...

and written by Mateusz Pacewicz. The plot centres around an expelled university student from

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

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 extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

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 Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

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. Pu ...

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. A 2017 report from Freedom House showed that 30 governments worldwide (out of 65 covered by the study ...

, where he excels in the business of spreading

fake news Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information (misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, and hoaxes) claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person ...

and online hatred targeting famous personalities,

internet celebrities An Internet celebrity, also referred to as an Internet personality, is an individual who has acquired or developed their fame and notability on the Internet. The growing popularity of social media provides a means for people to reach a large ...

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 Vanessa Aleksander (born 16 September 1996) is a Polish actress. Biography Aleksander was born to a Polish father and a Slovak mother; her parents are both figure skaters. Her maternal grandparents live in Zohor, a small village near Bratislava ...

as Gabriela 'Gabi' Krasucka *

Agata Kulesza Agata Kulesza (born 27 September 1971) is a Polish actress who has appeared on film, television, and stage. She made her film debut playing the leading role in the 1993 comedy-drama ''Czlowiek z...'' and later appeared in films '' Poznań '56'' ...

as Beata Santorska *

Danuta Stenka Danuta Stenka (born 10 October 1961 in Sierakowice, Poland) is a Polish actress. She made her stage debut in 1984 and since then acted in many productions receiving theatre awards for her performances. She made her big screen debut in 1995 and a ...

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. In 2022, he was the recipient of the Polish Academy Award for Best Actor. Life and career In 1999, he majored in psychology from the Jagiellonian U ...

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 the ...

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'' () 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. The film premiered on ...

'' (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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. It was distributed worldwide in streaming by

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on 29 July 2020.

Reception

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews with an average rating of . The website's critics 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 an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, it holds a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Ola Salwa on

Cineuropa Cineuropa is an online information portal dedicated to the promotion of European cinema. It publishes daily news, reviews, interviews, and industry reports and maintains a database of information. It is available in four languages: English, Fre ...

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 ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

'' 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. ...

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 IlF International Film Festival 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 the films ''Shallow Grave (1994 film), Shallow Grave'' (1994), ''Trainspotting (film), Trainspotting'' (1996) and its sequel ''T2 Tra ...

and

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

References

External links

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