Heart Emoji, Biceps

Max is a feminist. One of many – one who wants to do everything right. And yet he feels that the women in his circle – despite all their assurances – don't really desire men like him. His positive qualities may be positive, but when it comes to dating, they are worthless. Max throws himself from affair to affair, spends more and more time at the gym, seeking validation in a society that has clear ideas about how a man should be. Despite his initial scepticism, he finds solace on the internet when he comes across the «NoFap» community, where other men preach abstinence from masturbation and porn consumption as a cure. Abstinence and the regaining of (supposedly) lost masculinity become the meaning of life here. For Max, an increasingly desperate battle begins against himself, his body and the voices that whisper to him that he is not enough.

In Heart Emoji, Biceps, Fayer Koch traces the complex ramifications of self-perception, insecurity and identity, revealing the disturbing connections between the abysses of «men's communities» and growing right-wing movements, which, between incel culture and rampages, are becoming a real threat to a free society – and are no longer to be found only on the extreme fringes.