Rotten Tomatoes
Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Sauna

Play trailer Poster for Sauna 2025 1h 43m Drama LGBTQ+ Romance Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
88% Tomatometer 17 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.

Where to Watch

Sauna

Critics Reviews

View More
David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter Jun 27
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. Go to Full Review David Opie IndieWire 02/18/2025
B+
Sauna offers a unique yet relevant love story that treats the complexities of queer desire with nuance and compassion. Go to Full Review Guy Lodge Variety 02/06/2025
On occasion, the film underlines its wider social points with a heavy hand, though there’s sensual fluency and delicacy here too. Go to Full Review Olivia Popp Cineuropa Jan 17
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. Go to Full Review André Hereford Metro Weekly (Washington, DC) Dec 11
2/5
Danish queer indie 'Sauna' yields tepid drama chronicling the romance between a cis gay man and a trans man. Go to Full Review Rich Cline Shadows on the Wall Nov 23
3.5/5
The storytelling is a little uneven and elusive, going through a few stretches that are rather mopey, but the documentary-style realism continually surprises us with knowing details and subtle insights. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Trevor S @Pdxreviewer Jan 10 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. See more Peter F @Mansor Dec 24 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. See more Read all reviews
Sauna

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Cast & Crew

View All

Mathias Broe

Director

Magnus Juhl Andersen

Johan

Nina Terese Rask

William

Dilan Amin

Asif

Klaus Tange

Michael

Peter Oliver Hansen

Rolf
View All

Sauna

Sauna (2025) Sauna (2025) View more photos

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