MUG

Winner of the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at Berlin, Małgorzata Szumowska’s comedic fairytale about a metalhead with a face transplant takes wry, satirical aim at rural Polish society.

The new tragicomedy from acclaimed Polish director Małgorzata Szumowska (Body, MIFF 2015; In the Name Of, MIFF 2013) follows young construction worker Jacek, a knockabout, metal-loving dude in a rural town that’s erecting the world’s tallest statue of Jesus (itself based on the real-life monument of Jesus Christ the King in Świebodzin). After a near-fatal fall – headfirst into Jesus’ concrete torso – Jacek becomes the nation’s first recipient of a face transplant, and finds himself the subject of a media frenzy that cruelly ostracises him from society.

A scathing satire on Polish intolerance, prejudice and institutional flaws, Szumowska’s film is both sharply comedic and ultimately affecting.

"A potent slice of sacrilegious daring, which allows a true sense of humanity to bleed into focus." – Ion Cinema