The Hater refers to a young man who takes on a job at an ad agency where he finds the tools to launch an online attack on people he wants to take revenge on. Mateusz Paczewicz penned the script, which is in both Polish and English. The cast of popular Polish actors includes Maciej Musiałowski, Danuta Stenka, Maciej Stuhr, Jacek Koma and Vanessa Alexander. Wojciech Kabarowski and Jerzy Kapuściński produced the film.

“Jerzy Kapuściński came to me with the title Hater and said that it would be great to do a film about a business that has developed around this phenomenon. I already had a story ready, about a young guy who will use any means possible to climb the social ladder. I decided together with screenwriter Mateusz Pacewicz to join these two stories. In two years, Mateusz wrote a very well researched script showcasing how the desire for love and acceptance can bring a person to an ethical fall, as well as the workings of the paid online hate industry,” Komasa told FNE.

Naima Film produced the film in coproduction with TVN, Canal+ Polska, Studio K2 and Coloroffon. It premiered in the USA and has taken in 1.1 m EUR worldwide. The film went to VoD release 12 days after it opened in Poland, when cinemas were suddenly closed because of COVID-19.

The shoot took place on location in Warsaw and wrapped on 31 December 2018. Kino Świat is handling the domestic distribution.

Suicide Room (produced by KADR Film Studio) was released in Poland in 2011 and by tackling the issues of troubled youth online was called the "film of a generation”. It had over 1 m admissions and remains one of the strongest domestic debuts.

Production Information:

Producer
Naima Film (Poland)

Coproducers:
TVN (Poland)
Canal+ Polska (Poland)
Studio K2 (Poland)
Coloroffon (Poland)

Credits:
Director: Jan Komasa
Screenwriter: Mateusz Pacewicz
DoP: Radosław Ładczuk
Cast: Maciej Musiałowski, Danuta Stenka, Maciej Stuhr, Jacek Koma, Vanessa Alexander