Detective Forst Review: As the eponymous character of the dark Polish crime drama series, Borys Szyc leads the 6-part Netflix show based on Remigiusz Mróz’s Forst book series. Directed by Leszek Dawid, the OTT episodes’ runtime ranges between 41-45 minutes, and they also star Zuzanna Saporznikow, Andrzej Bienias, Kamilla Baar, Aleksandra Grabowska, Szymon Wróblewski and others. Releasing on the streamer on January 11, 2024, the Polish title brews a suspenseful mystery that drags in elements of a psychological thriller, resulting in a character-driven plot that keeps you on the edge, and will possibly also leave you with a few trust issues, all thanks to its open ending.
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Detective Forst Netflix Review Contains No Spoilers
Detective Forst Review
With 6 episodes under the hood, the Detective Forst series on Netflix is able to hold its end of the bargain in terms of concocting an entertaining mix of tropes and classic elements inspired from dark psychological thrillers. The titular character embodies the common looks of a cocky and eccentric detective whose fatal flaw emerges as his own maverick ways of dealing with the investigation procedure, and the repercussions of that get him suspended from leading the case at hand. Ultimately, he joins forces with an equally unconventionally and offhanded journalist to solve a grisly series of murders in the Tatra mountains.
From the top of it all, a lot of seen-before elements collapse onto each other to build the Polish series as what it is. Yet, despite the conventional use of these familiar tropes and directions, the final result turns out to a be lot bloodier and out of the box. The initial coming together of Forst and Olga to reach a partnership against these crimes brings on an all too familiar banter with them being at odds with each other owing to their differences that eventually reveal themselves to be nosy similarities as we watch them get closer to each other.
In the midst of it all, Forst also shares some stressful relationships with a senior police inspector from the same department and his daughter that make the tide more turbulent and create even more tensions around him. On top of it all, the most disturbed shared dynamic is the one with himself due to a traumatic past and childhood, that in turn connects him to some other characters in the mix, who’re brought into the picture a bit later.
Borys Szyc as Wiktor Forst is a reckoning force as we see him indulge into these broken relationships with so many people, all of which are tied back to the dark past he’s had, ultimately pulling down his progress in the present. Forst’s character gets pulled into a vicious cycle of the same mental and emotional abuse over and over, and it’s as if he’s the one holding the key to the door that could set him free, thereby subjecting him to an instance of self-imposed stockholm syndrome of sorts. Much like his emotional state, his personal and professional streaks of life also get intertwined when these gruesome killings begin.
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As is always the case when such murder mysteries are involved, certain sub-plots are introduced as red herrings that distract us from the actual red picture. Despite that aspect being a common building block of such a genre, those interventions, with focus on other secondary characters, don’t pan out well in terms of holding up the entertaining value, as one hopes for the conversation to be directed in Forst’s direction again. When it does move back to that level, flashes of his past keep interfering with the present, blurring out his concentration and meshing in the grim history that has founded his character as well as the series of events haunting the wintry setting of the plot.
The cinematography interestingly switches between the white landscape, that is decked with layers of snow, and the splashes of red light. The former smartly represents the many secrets hidden underneath, while also playing out as a natural metaphor to describe the haunting mysteries contained in these several characters who’ve turned out to be a scary outcome of their ghastly pasts, whereas the latter accentuates the foreboding essence of the plot and the various signs that signal at the upcoming horrors.
In addition to Borys’ performance, other cast members also give justice to their characters, with Zuzanna Saporznikow’s portrayal of the flawed and peculiarly impenetrable Olga, who complements Szyc’s role on the same wavelength.
Detective Forst Polish Series: Final Thoughts
With the first season consisting of 6 episodes, this Netflix series is a rather quick watch as long as you count out the minutes spent by the viewer wincing at the bloody scenes. It may not be an easy watch for those who can’t deal with such gory and psychological themes centred around the trauma resulting from visual abuse. The broody aspect of the series prevails in the first half, as then the plot is more focussed on unravelling the dark mystery, which results in a lot of grim silences.
Therefore, the pacing may become an issue for certain viewers who can’t patiently tie themselves down to the gradual speed of revelations. In other places, Forst’s past and other characters associated with it don’t receive a proper and detailed introduction, which may even hinder viewers’ understanding of the threads tying the present to the past, again generating some issues with the narrative’s pace. Moreover, even with the depth it does provide, the series can be easily seen resorting to the common traits of the genre, which may not intrigue everyone to tune into the story due to the lack of unique pacing.
All 6 episodes of Detective Forst Season 1 are now streaming on Netflix.
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