Wiktor Bojanowski’s feature debut is an intense thriller set during a drama school’s final production. We meet Maja, a young acting student who, even before graduation, has lost faith in her ability to make a living as an actor. Instead, she plans to study marketing and doesn’t take the upcoming production seriously. But everything changes when a new, charismatic director arrives and unexpectedly casts Maja in the leading role of Lady Macbeth.

The result is a psychologically demanding film that keeps your heart in your throat from the first scene to the last. Bojanowski portrays a reality long present in Polish film schools, where it has been considered natural to break down students and push them to their limits — all in the name of art.

– Mia Rogersdotter Hran