The Plagues of Breslau ★★★

POLAND, probably unfairly, has the reputation of being a dour, serious place.

I’ve never been there but, of the few Polish films I have seen, it’s true of their dramas.

But The Plagues of Breslau (2018) is grim while also being, well, a bit bonkers.

People are turning up dead on the streets of a provincial city, murdered in a variety of spectacularly gruesome ways.

One body is sewn into a pig and left in the local markets; another is dragged behind wild horses and torn apart as they tear through crowds on busy streets; another is crucified on a wooden wheel and flung through the window of a police station.

The lead police investigator, Helena Rus, seems completely non-plussed by the whole affair and barely tolerates the superficial contributions of her dim-witted male colleagues and media-hungry, alcoholic boss.

She is played interestingly by Malgorzata Kozuchowska in a performance that is the epitome of low-key.

As if she wasn’t strange enough, a forensic specialist, Magda Drewniak played by Daria Widawska, arrives with an even stranger indifference to her work, a foul mouth and penchant for wearing baggy tracksuits.

The unlikely pair set about finding the serial killer who strikes at 6pm every day in honour of a centuries old tradition.

Director and writer Patryk Vega is well-known in his home country for crime dramas, both movies and television, but I suspect this is one out-of-the-box even for him.

It’s a strange oddity but I enjoyed it. The only trouble is the very poor ending.

Kind of an Eastern European attempt to cross Seven with Hot Fuzz. You’ll either like or hate it.