Character Relationship Map: Floating Skyscrapers

Characters

• Kuba (played by Mateusz Banasiuk) — protagonist

  Kuba is a highly disciplined swimmer whose life is dominated by fifteen years of training and an approaching competition. Although he has been dating Sylwia for two years, he develops a secret romanti...

• Sylwia (played by Marta Nieradkiewicz) — supporting

  Sylwia is Kuba's live-in girlfriend of two years and works at a restaurant while contributing to the apartment rent. She becomes uneasy about Kuba's growing closeness to Michał, later reveals that she...

• Michał (played by Bartosz Gelner) — supporting

  Michał meets Kuba at an art exhibition and quickly forms an intimate bond with him through shared conversations, smoking, and reckless adventures. He openly loves Kuba, but Kuba denies their relations...

• Ewa (played by Katarzyna Herman) — supporting

  Ewa is Kuba's mother and the owner of the apartment where Kuba and Sylwia live. She pressures Kuba to make Sylwia move out, rejects his confession about Michał, informs Sylwia about it, and demands th...

• Kuba's Coach (played by Mariusz Drężek) — supporting

  Kuba's Coach oversees his swimming training and is pleased when Kuba swims strongly, urging him to repeat an earlier performance so he can win the competition and qualify for the team. He is shocked w...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Kuba → Kuba's Coach (Professional Swim Coach And Athlete) — The coach pushes Kuba toward competitive success, but Kuba's abrupt stop in the race disrupts the athletic future the coach is encouraging.

  Kuba trains under the coach, who praises his swimming and urges him to repeat his earlier performance to win the competition and qualify for the team....

• Kuba → Michał (Romantic Secret Lovers) — Their bond develops into a secret romantic relationship, but Kuba denies and ultimately ends it under pressure from his mother.

  Kuba meets Michał at an art exhibition, and they later share intimate conversations and adventures. Michał tells his mother that he loves Kuba, while...

• Kuba → Sylwia (Live-in Romantic Partners) — Their established relationship deteriorates as Kuba grows close to Michał; Sylwia remains with him after disclosing her pregnancy, while Kuba emotionally withdraws.

  The plot states that Kuba and Sylwia have been together for two years and live together. Sylwia later reveals that she is pregnant, and Kuba tries to...

• Kuba → Ewa (Family Mother And Son) — Ewa's control over the household and her rejection of Kuba's relationship with Michał contribute to his decision to end it.

  Ewa is identified as Kuba's mother. She rejects his confession about Michał and demands that he support Sylwia and stop seeing Michał.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Ewa → Sylwia (Landlady And Tenant In Conflict) — Ewa is openly exasperated with Sylwia and initially wants her out of the apartment, then later tells her about Kuba's confession.

  Ewa owns the apartment where Kuba and Sylwia live and urges Kuba to make Sylwia move out. The plot also describes tension between the women over Sylwi...

Story Analysis

A disciplined swimmer's hidden relationship with Michał collides with social pressure, family demands, and the life he has built with Sylwia.

Plot Progression

1. Training and a Chance Encounter — Kuba's disciplined swimming life and uneasy relationship with Sylwia frame his meeting with Michał at an art exhibition. Their conversation begins a connection that draws Kuba away from his establishe...
2. Intimacy and Divided Loyalties — Kuba and Michał share private nights and reckless adventures while Sylwia waits and grows uneasy. Kuba's athletic obligations continue alongside his increasingly divided personal life.
3. The Race and Public Denial — Kuba stops during the competition and leaves the pool, then reacts violently when a man insults him. Michał, in contrast, comes out to his family and openly declares his love for Kuba.
4. A Forced Separation — Kuba's confession is rejected by Ewa, while Sylwia reveals her pregnancy. Pressured to support Sylwia and avoid Michał, Kuba ends the relationship by phone.
5. Violence and Emotional Aftermath — Michał is ambushed in a parking garage and dies after a brutal beating. The film closes with Kuba and Sylwia in the bathtub, facing each other in silence before Kuba walks away.