Signs

A gripping story about serial murders in a small town, it's the 3rd Polish noir I've watched on Netflix (the others being The Crime and Ultraviolet). As a Brazilian living in Rio de Janeiro I don't know much about the Poles, but it's great to see their culture and religiosity depicted.

As Monty Python once said ...AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. The same cast is there with some interesting additions but the focus has to some extent, switched to the Nazi "treasure" that may or may not be in the vicinity. There are flashbacks that explain the presence of the newcomers but it is not always clear which time zone we are in and the editing is so bizarre that occasionally the storyline becomes incomprehensible. Having thought about it for a few days, I have to rewatch it since I feel I may have missed something..In fact, I enjoyed it so much I will go all the way back to S01

A small town in rural Poland a project to develop land, a corrupt mayor, a weird parish, bones and skulls found, two girls murdered. A detective transferred from Kracow takes to investigate. This comes out as a natural crime thriller, intriguing at a proper pace, with a complex puzzle, not artificial twist and turns, not contrived situations, and on top of that not boring.

I love it...like a Polish Twin Peaks with less black humour(although not humourless) no cherry pie and lots of vodka and cigs. Full of shocking moments and beautiful, if at times bleak, scenery. And a WW2 conspiracy theory subplot which gets it an extra star from me. Series 2 now on Netflix

As this Polish series opens a young woman is seen walking while talking on her phone; suddenly she is fatally shot by an unknown assailant. The action moves forward ten years; Commissioner Michal Trela has recently taken over as the head of the local police and there has been another, almost identical murder. Many suspects will emerge; a local religious group; those working at a new quarry and even people looking for rumoured Nazi technology which was apparently made during the wartime occupation. As the story progresses there are inevitably more murders and the discovery of older human remains.

I really enjoyed this series; there was a good sense of mystery... not just the question of who the killer is but also the sense that the ultimate answer to some questions could be Nazi sci-fi or even supernatural in nature. Some questions are answered at the end of the first season but more are raised before it ends. Similarly the ending of the second season left me keen for there to be a third as question marks hand over the lives of certain key characters. The cast does a fine job bringing their characters to life and the setting adds to the atmosphere... I had no idea rural Poland was so beautiful. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to mystery fans looking for something a little different.

These comments are based on watching the series in Polish with English subtitles.