Thomas is a man of success. He’s young (around 30), good-looking, accomplished in the world of media, intelligent, and happy, or at least that’s what he claims. What brings him complete happiness is the fact that he is able to control it. As a television journalist, he really knows people. He knows what they need most: happiness. But because what they need isn’t always available, Thomas comes up with the brilliant idea to induce happiness and accelerate reaching it by any means necessary.

Experimenting on himself using different methods of bringing about happiness, he reaches the conclusion that the greatest happiness “as if a cup of hot chocolate was spreading through you” comes from smoking heroin. He believes that this feeling of serenity and utter peace is in fact ultimate happiness. Thomas knows how to reach this state by smoking heroin in a way that is not addictive. Being a man of exceptional intelligence, he is convinced that he is in control of his life and is able to manage the flow of the miracle substance that, in his opinion, not only brings happiness, but also enhances his intelligence, his brilliance, and his creativity.

Thomas is a respected journalist, who conducts interesting interviews in his television programs.

He is friends with Gabriel, a somewhat younger student of the Academy of Fine Arts. Gabriel recently got married and has a baby that is soon to be christened. He is devoted to his wife and child, he loves his family, but he still occasionally smokes heroin with Thomas, which his wife and other family members know nothing about. Thomas has a few more friends; they are young men who have all been initiated in the world of heroin.

Having arrived completely high at the christening of Gabriel’s baby, Thomas decides that Gabriel has to stop using drugs. He takes it on himself to put his friend through detox alone, in his own home, in order to save Gabriel from his destructive addiction. Keeping it a secret from Gabriel, Thomas meets with his wife Kasia. He shares her husband’s secret with the dumbfounded woman. He manages to gain her full trust and support, and is thus at liberty to hold Gabriel hostage and under restraint at his place.

Thomas’s doings are closely watched, more or less openly, by Robert. He is a drug dealer. Actually, he’s the dealing expert. When the situation with Gabriel’s detoxing gets out of hand and Gabriel “disappears” all of a sudden under extraordinary circumstances, Thomas gradually starts taking on his form. When Thomas becomes aware of what has happened, he realizes that he is in Robert’s apartment and it is he in fact who is being subjected to detox therapy.

But Robert has even bigger plans when it comes to Thomas-Gabriel. Not only is he trying to get him to stop being an addict, but he’s also going to prepare Thomas for a much more exciting type of activity: dealing. Robert trains Thomas to become a drug dealing expert. He thinks dealing is better than drugs; it’s a way of controlling people who need to get addicted to happiness, and therefore to him − their happiness supplier.

Robert explains to Thomas his devilish visions of reigning over people; the power that brings even more happiness than drugs alone. As Thomas undergoes his dramatic transformation, he reaches perfection and becomes heroin itself, thus defeating his master and taking his place.

In this world full of ecstatic happiness, we slowly realize how diabolical this happiness is. The people that submit to it loose their footing, they lose their families and loved ones, they lose themselves. Their happiness turns out to be all-consuming, annihilating, and therefore completely contradictory. After a while we realize that Thomas and Gabriel are one person, while the conflict between them is the dispute about life with the addiction vs. life in sobriety. The objective scenes turn out to be Thomas’s inner world, while the conflict between himself, Gabriel, and Robert, is part of his inner conflict between the dark and light side of his inner self.

But will this conflict be easy to resolve if the need for happiness, power, and dominance over people keeps growing, becoming stronger than the drugs alone?

Paweł Sala graduated from three faculties: Cultural Studies at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań University of Łódź, Radio Directing and Film Directing at the University of Silesia in Katowice (student of Krzysztof Kieślowski) Regularly working for the Polish TVP and Canal+. Used to work for the Polish Radio’s Theatre.

His feature film (written and directed) produced in 2010 by “Rozwój Film” had a world premiere in main competition on International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary in Czech Republic – prized ex quo for the Best Actor – Mateusz Kościukiewicz and Filip Garbacz. The film was also awarded with “Best Director Award” and Joung Jury Prize at Polish Young Cinema Festival in Koszalin 2010, The Parajanov Prize for the developing of film language at International Film Festival in Tbilisi Georgia – December 2010,“Passport” of “Polityka” in January 2011 for film achievement of 2010, The Main Prize in Polish Festival Of Directing in Swidnica by Wrocław, and Prize of Polish Television Culture Channel for the Best Film of 2010 year

He is author of numerous radio shows, tv plays (i.e. „We’ll Be Good Now” awarded at the Festival of Daring Art. In Radom and the National Contest organised by “The Dialogue” magazine and the Polish Theatre in Wrocław; theatre plays and documentaries. .

His scripts: „Son of Snow Queen”, „More than one life”, “Hijacked” were in finals of polish edition Hartley-Merrill Competition.