It is very pleasant that streaming has opened doors for foreign movies to take place. Nowadays, we can watch great movies that, back then, would never have made it to the mainstream media. This is one fine example.
In The Plagues of Breslau, we follow police officer Helena Rus whilst she is investigating the murder of a man, which soon becomes clear it is the work of a serial killer. Meanwhile, something dark lurks inside Helena, as we get glimpses of her tragic story.
The storyline starts great. A gruesome murder scene is found and the investigation starts. Helena's personality sets the tone of this movie as something dark and eery. But, then, some flaws begin to arise.
I don't understand why everyone else is so silly, at least in the beginning (though, some of them remain silly throughout the whole movie). Only Helena seems to be taking the murder seriously. All the other people are either acting weird in a silly way or just being plain stupid. They just seem senseless about the fact.
Some scenes are over-chaotic for no reason. Random people on the streets start acting like a bunch of cockroaches that just got sprayed with toxin. However, the reason they are in panic is just dumb.
The acting is a little bit robotic sometimes. Malgorzata Kozuchowska and Daria Widawska are great, but the others' acting is subpar. I don't know if watching with English dub contributed to this fact.
The plot is good; I just think that, towards the end, it got a little bit rushed. Facts are just dumped to the audience in quick succession and, if you are not paying close attention, you might need to rewind a couple of times.
Also, the reason for the killings makes the murderer's modus operandi seem way too surreal. It looks cool on screen, but, in reality, that would have been very unlikely to happen. Maybe just have them killed without it being so artistic would have played out better when you understand The motive.
In the end, I was satisfied by the story and its dark turn of events.
Overall, I'd recommend it to people who like foreign movies and are a fan of crime thrillers. Just don't think this is Se7en (1995), although, I would say they have very close connections.
In The Plagues of Breslau, we follow police officer Helena Rus whilst she is investigating the murder of a man, which soon becomes clear it is the work of a serial killer. Meanwhile, something dark lurks inside Helena, as we get glimpses of her tragic story.
The storyline starts great. A gruesome murder scene is found and the investigation starts. Helena's personality sets the tone of this movie as something dark and eery. But, then, some flaws begin to arise.
I don't understand why everyone else is so silly, at least in the beginning (though, some of them remain silly throughout the whole movie). Only Helena seems to be taking the murder seriously. All the other people are either acting weird in a silly way or just being plain stupid. They just seem senseless about the fact.
Some scenes are over-chaotic for no reason. Random people on the streets start acting like a bunch of cockroaches that just got sprayed with toxin. However, the reason they are in panic is just dumb.
The acting is a little bit robotic sometimes. Malgorzata Kozuchowska and Daria Widawska are great, but the others' acting is subpar. I don't know if watching with English dub contributed to this fact.
The plot is good; I just think that, towards the end, it got a little bit rushed. Facts are just dumped to the audience in quick succession and, if you are not paying close attention, you might need to rewind a couple of times.
Also, the reason for the killings makes the murderer's modus operandi seem way too surreal. It looks cool on screen, but, in reality, that would have been very unlikely to happen. Maybe just have them killed without it being so artistic would have played out better when you understand The motive.
In the end, I was satisfied by the story and its dark turn of events.
Overall, I'd recommend it to people who like foreign movies and are a fan of crime thrillers. Just don't think this is Se7en (1995), although, I would say they have very close connections.