Sauna

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Sauna

2025

1h 43m

Drama

LGBTQ+

Romance

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Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

89%

Tomatometer

18 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 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.

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David Rooney

The Hollywood Reporter

Jun 27, 2025

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.

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David Opie

IndieWire

Feb 18, 2025

B+

Sauna offers a unique yet relevant love story that treats the complexities of queer desire with nuance and compassion.

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Guy Lodge

Variety

Feb 6, 2025

On occasion, the film underlines its wider social points with a heavy hand, though there’s sensual fluency and delicacy here too.

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Belen Prieto

Espinof

Jun 22, 2026

4/5

Broe opts for a tale where desire, identity, and affection are constantly in the process of being defined. And that is fascinating and truly authentic. [Full review in Spanish]

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Olivia Popp

Cineuropa

Jan 17, 2026

The movie still closes with a satisfyingly defiant spark of hope. It's up to the audience to decide whether it's misguided, a show of true love or both.

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André Hereford

Metro Weekly (Washington, DC)

Dec 11, 2025

2/5

Danish queer indie 'Sauna' yields tepid drama chronicling the romance between a cis gay man and a trans man.

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Garry A

@heavyg Oct 3, 2026

The intense romance between the gay guy and transgender man was cute, then intense, and tragic in the end. It was pretty decent.

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Mort P

@Mort. Sep 28, 2026

I thought it was an extraordinarily well-done film about a young man trying to find his way, his relationships, and the narrowness most seem to have for 'others' (almost everyone in this film except the two main characters). You have to route for him despite the flaws and awkward moments. The cast and writing were superb. Am a little surprised that people would rate or review this poorly because it didn't meet what they thought a photo conveyed, rather than on its merits.

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Trevor S

@Pdxreviewer Jan 10, 2026

I was expecting a gay movie and more sauna content, given the name. It was my fault for not reading the brief description, but this is a straight movie. It features a Man and a Trans Man (biological woman), and is misclassified. To be a "gay" film requires two people of the same biological sex. I am highly offended by it being classified as a gay film and stealing/taking away from gay identity.

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Peter F

@Mansor Dec 24, 2025

After seeing the partly naked man on the dvd cover and the fact that the film was called SAUNA ,I had expected to see full frontal nudity.Sadly the film was completely devoid of any male frontal nudity. The film was only partly set in a sauna so a different dvd cover would not make buyers think what I thought.A good story just a pity that the cinematography had an awful lot of hand held camera shots.

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Mathias Broe

Director

Magnus Juhl Andersen

Johan

Nina Terese Rask

William

Dilan Amin

Asif

Klaus Tange

Michael

Peter Oliver Hansen

Rolf

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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
Distributor: Breaking Glass Pictures
Production Co: Nordisk Film
Genre: Drama, LGBTQ+, Romance
Original Language: Danish
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 18, 2025
Runtime: 1h 43m

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