Agnieszka

(2014) Agnieszka (In Polish with English subtitles) PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA

Written and directed by Tomasz Emil Rudzik that has Agnieszka (Karolina Gorczyca) just let out of prison, and the first person she sees is her young brother, Raphael (Rafal Garnecki) wanting to gather her clothes and some spending money before she heads toward her next destination which happens to be Poland. Her younger brother initially want to come with her, except that she barely has any money and after a scuffle with her criminal boyfriend, forced her to go on the run. And it is not long before she stumbles on to a lady who calls herself, Madame (Hildegard Schmahl) who owns a little bar but also happens to make a percentage of her money from managing an escort service.

Must watch, It has little bit of everything. Please just watch and enjoy.😃

Despite the subject matter, it's not as bleak nor harsh and exploitative as some other European hard-luck films can be. You have scenes of the main character (and another young woman) being a dominatrixes (fully clothed in very tame clothing) and it cuts away and/or puts the scene out of frame (which is fine since it's not really about that). Even more serious things like rape are cut away from/implied. It would have the potential to move you-if everyone didn't act like they did NyQuil shots before filming each scene. I've watched many films from different European countries, and in certain areas (namely Central and Eastern European countries) that flat, matter-of-fact acting style is very common. So, while it doesn't make the acting bad and I'm used to it now, it also doesn't give much to work with emotionally when you're more accustomed to people expressing their emotions outwardly in real life. There are dramatic story elements with zero drama. Even when people get angry, it's just cold, dispassionate abruptness.

So, while the film is fine to watch when you have nothing else to do or watch, I wouldn't recommend it as something to really sink your teeth into. And, frankly, I could see some people describing it as boring. If they did, I would understand where they are coming from.