Debuting on Netlfix in many parts of the world in late April, The Plagues of Breslau is a gritty, gory, and atmospheric Polish crime thriller. It is directed by Patryk Vega (Pitbull: Tough Women, 2016), who also wrote the film. The screenplay is based on the novels of Marek Krajewski, a Polish crime writer and linguist who has won many prestigious national literary and cultural awards for his work.

The Plagues of Breslau hits the ground running. We are welcomed to the film by the discovery of a gruesome murder. A body is found to the shock of onlookers in a market in Wrocław, the historic capital city of Silesia and Lower Silesia. The horrific, bloody, and mutilated corpse is sewn with great care inside a fresh, soft, brown cowhide.

On the scene are several hardboiled cops, including detective Helena Ruś, who out-broods all of them combined. Sporting a badass haircut with hair flowing from one side and shaved on the other, she operates with the enthusiasm of someone who needs several Xanax pills to get out of bed in the morning.

The Polish crime thriller The Plagues of Breslau isn’t a perfect film. But it has enough entertainment for pulp crime fans to be a satisfying watch

But I digress. Not many other actors could pull off the role of Helena Ruś without coming across as campy, but Małgorzata Kożuchowska is excellent here. She executes the characterisation with authenticity.

As the detective pulls at the threads of this murder mystery, another — even more — horrific murder takes place. And then another. And then another. For the next five days, there’s a murder every day at exactly 6pm. Here, Helena Ruś is joined by Magda Drewniak (Daria Widawska), a supposedly brilliant profiler, who has been sent in to offer her expertise. Quickly, our heroes realise that the murderer is inspired by an 18th-century “plague” of criminal punishments.

The two lead characters have good chemistry, even though they have contrasting personalities. Here, Magda probes, trying to uncover why Helena is acting like an emo-Goth teenager with a sad Myspace page. Turns out, Helena suffered a tragedy that turned her life upside down.

Soon, The Plagues of Breslau throws a twist our way, that frankly I didn’t see coming. Aside from the creativity of the gratuitous murders, this twist is the only real surprise the film throws our way. The rest of the narrative feels like a checklist of crime thriller clichés.

There’s the killer-wants-to-inspire-the-film’s-lead-character-to-become-like-them cliché. There’s the opposites-attract-in-partners-cliché. There’s the special-investigator-taking-over-to-the-frustration-of-the-regular-detective cliché. There’s the killer-trying-to-send-a-weird-message-through-mind-games cliché. These are just a few of the many crime film tropes The Plagues of Breslau uses.

Thankfully, the rest of the film offers enough to hold our interest. I especially found the social commentary interesting. The film has a lot to say about the plight of women in Polish society.

The Plagues of Breslau isn’t a perfect film. But it has enough entertainment for pulp crime fans to be a satisfying watch — as long as they don’t have a weak stomach.

MPAA: Not Rated

Published in Dawn, ICON, June 7th, 2020