Forst

Our Polish cinematography is always behind - 20 years after the world discovered romantic comedies, we were making romantic comedies, and now, 10 years after the world discovered serial killer series, we are making serial killer series. And each one is identical. Every dark Polish series is a mishmash of Swedish series. There's a detective with a past, who has issues with his superior, there's a rebellious journalist, there's a psychopathic killer performing rituals. How many times have you seen this? So this one is for connoisseurs - those who don't have enough yet. The actors are good, the cinematography is good, but there's too much repetition and too many stereotypes. Not great directorial work.

I read the books a while back and remember them being pompously written, with repetitive descriptions, and the characters' main personality traits being what they wore, the kind of chewing gum they liked and how much they swore. The series has similar 'depth' and it's over reliant on you having to fill in the gaps in the plot.

The choice of the main actor was also quite predictable, although personally I imagined Forst differently, but thats only a personal opinion.

You get to see the beauty of the Polish mountains though, and if you're not too fussed about things making sense then give it a go.

The Poles know how to make quality, dark crime thrillers and dramas. That's why it was a pity that this was not one of them. The series starts promisingly, but by the third episode at the latest, the downward spiral begins. The series becomes more and more implausible and illogical. At the same time, the number of clichés increases. Not even the twist at the end saves the series. That in itself is very unfortunate. The beginning seemed promising, the series was well made, shot and staged. The landscapes were on the one hand starkly beautiful and on the other hopeless. This was a missed opportunity.

This series has an excellent premise, a very interesting and solid development, a severe amount of violence, a cunning villain, relatively well-developed characters, a fluid and tense script, good actors, good performances, atmosphere and photography that are always heavy and suffocating, in other words the almost perfect recipe. At times it even reminded me of Seven.

But the ending is absolutely disappointing. I even think that the final scene was written on purpose to leave a hook for a second season. However, I believe that if there is, it will be clear that everything would be resolved with one more episode, not an entire season. It would give a rate of 7, but with that ending, 6 is enough.

Some screenwriters need to be humble and remember that sometimes less can be more.

Web series review: Detective Forst streaming on Netflix

This Polish Web Series based on a novel showcases the life of a brilliant but troubled detective Wiktor Forst, whose maverick ways get him kicked out of his job . Will he still be able to work outside the system without any rules and get to the bottom of grizzly murders that r taking place and catch the killer who is committing his crimes with impunity!!

Starts off decently as the first three episodes showcase the murders being carried out with a message. These episodes r the best of the six part series where they showcase Forst's inner demons and the murders.

I don't know what happened next .. guess the writers got lazy and finally in the last episode they literally bailed out leaving the passengers ( viewers) mid air twiddling their thumbs to figure out their own version of the ending 😄!!

Some positives - The cinematography is brilliant, the snow clad mountainous landscape in Zakopane,Poland adding to the captivating & visually stimulating ambience that is truly out of the world. Kudos to the cinematographer!!

However, was it necessary to show the altitude of all places showcased in the series ( the reason is unclear.. actually doesn't serve any purpose!!).

Acting is not bad with the cast giving an earnest performance!!

Downers - the non linear narrative, coupled with names that r cumbersome to remember ( keep in mind , it is a Polish series !!) make it difficult to co-relate things and piece together the finer nuances of the tale!! The ending too leaves more questions than answers.. with the conclusion left entirely up to the viewers!!

Hope there is a sequel soon to give answers and provide closure to the unfortunate viewers!!

Not bad .. a one time watch. Cudve been much much better with the writers doing their job especially in the last three episodes of this 6 part series!!

Going with 2.5/5 .. adios 🙂!!

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