Sauna Sickness

Cleo agrees to her boyfriend Tobias’s plan for a romantic New Year’s Eve at her mother’s remote mountain cabin. However, when they are accidentally locked out of the main house following a moment of intimacy in the sauna, Tobias immediately turns on Cleo, plunging their night into a minefield of emotional conflict.

Malin Barr is a Swedish writer, director, and actor working between Stockholm and Los Angeles, whose work centers on female-driven stories, often blending dark humor, drama and genre elements. She is an alumna of the Alma Löv Screenwriting Academy and the Cine Qua Non Writers Lab. Her latest short film, Sauna Sickness, premiered in competition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and has been selected to compete at festivals including Göteborg Film Festival and SXSW London. She is currently developing several feature films, including a feature adaptation of Sauna Sickness.