Reflective Encounters

“Whilst those of a Scandinavian bent would scoff at such reticence, those of more reserved nature (read: large swathes of British people) can find the whole prospect of a sauna terrifying. After all, walking around with all your bits hanging out and then steaming them like the vegetables that go with your roast dinner would seem like utter madness. But, even if you get past the obstacle of – whisper it so the children don’t hear – public nudity, Sauna Security becomes a reminder that there are plenty more regulations that one has to follow.

Director Nils Knoblich presents us with a disparate group of people who enter a sauna only to gradually find that they break the rules, much to the chagrin of a trio of burly attendants who are more than willing to throw miscreants into the cold. Knoblich piles on absurdity after absurdity in a striking animation that both speaks of the fears that lay at the heart of social anxiety but also works as a fable about modern society, in which even the most obedient members of the community will be made to bend the rules.”

— Laurence Boyce