MNEK and the Muscle Marys​

Directed by Ben Galster and produced by Blink, MNEK’s MUSCLE MARYS.. looks at body image, desire and self-perception through the world of queer gym culture.

We start quite observationally, following MNEK and a cast drawn from London’s queer community through the locker room and gym, watching people train, compare themselves and each other, and navigate attraction and self-consciousness. As the film develops, that world becomes much more extroverted, eventually breaking out into a euphoric club environment where the same characters can completely let go.

At the end, the film returns to the locker room as MNEK sings, “maybe I’m not different than them”, leaving it open whether that sense of liberation really happened or whether he is still caught in the same cycle of comparison and vanity.

"It was fantastic to work with MNEK on something this personal, particularly a song dealing so openly with body dysmorphia and the complicated relationship we can have with our own bodies. I loved being able to show a more vulnerable side of him while still making something that ultimately feels sexy, playful and celebratory." said Galster.