Best Polish thriller movies
A curated collection of popular thriller movies from Poland.
Black Mercedes (2019)
Black Mercedes (2019)
In Nazi-occupied Warsaw, an investigator tries to unravel the mysterious murder of a prominent attorney's wife.
Manhunt (2012)
Manhunt (2012)
Marcin Krysztalowicz's film is both a partisan ballad, showing the real face of German occupation of Poland during WW2 and a startling war thriller. It tells a story of corporal "Wydra", struggling not only with Germans and Polish traitors but also with his own past...
In Hiding (2013)
In Hiding (2013)
In the spring of 1944 in Poland, near the end of WWII, Janina faces a huge change in her life when her father decides to offer a shelter to his Jewish friend’s daughter Ester. One day, her father is arrested and Janina starts to take care of Ester by herself and in doing so secret emotions rise between them.
Dezerter (1958)
Dezerter (1958)
A Pole incorporated into the Wehrmacht deserts, hiding in a coal mine ...
Polar Bear (1959)
Polar Bear (1959)
A Jewish man who escapes a Nazi transport hides in a Polish ski resort town by posing for photos with tourists dressed as a polar bear.
Mother's Day (2023)
Mother's Day (2023)
Nina, a former NATO special operations agent living in hiding, has to use all her deadly skills to rescue her son who has been kidnapped by ruthless gangsters. Finding Max is a double opportunity for her. A chance to feel the adrenaline rush again, and an opportunity to get back into the life of the son she had to abandon years ago.
Anatomy of Evil (2015)
Anatomy of Evil (2015)
Lulek, a hit man, is released from prison and given an offer he can't refuse by the man who put him away. If he kills the chief of the Central Bureau of Investigations, he will earn a huge sum of money and have his record cleared so he can leave.
Playground (2016)
Playground (2016)
It's the end of the school year and today is the last chance for 12-year-old Gabrysia to tell her classmate that she has fallen in love with him. She sets up a secret meeting and blackmails the boy to show up. But what was supposed to be an intimate talk spins out of control and leads to an unexpected ending.
Servants of War (2019)
Servants of War (2019)
A seasoned detective teams up with a novice cop to solve the mysterious murder of a world-class bone marrow transplant specialist.
Smolensk (2016)
Smolensk (2016)
Inspired by true events of 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash in Smolensk, the film tells the partially fictional story of crash and various people affected by the tragedy. The protagonist is a journalist Nina, who refuses to accept the official version of the story and pursues her own independent investigation.
The Mole (2011)
The Mole (2011)
Pawel, a Polish man in his early 30s, makes a living with his father Zygmunt importing second-hand clothing from the North of France to Southern Poland. On his way back from one of regular "business trips", Pawel is shocked to discover his father's picture on the cover of a Polish tabloid newspaper. The headline "traitor" is written next to his name. Zygmunt is a genuine hero of the struggle against totalitarianism and a recognized member of the "Solidarnosc" labor movement of the 80s. But now, Zygmunt is suddenly accused by the paper of having acted as a secret informer called THE MOLE by the communist regime.
The Hidden Web (2023)
The Hidden Web (2023)
A journalist unearths a horrific conspiracy when she questions the events surrounding a celebrity’s death.
The Photographer (2014)
The Photographer (2014)
The Photographer is an elusive serial killer operating in modern-day Moscow. He leaves numbered tiles at the scenes of his crimes, similar to those placed at crime scenes by forensic teams. The investigation points to the old Red Army barracks in Legnica, and to events dating back to the 1970s. One of the people involved in the investigation is Natasha - the only person to have survived an encounter with The Photographer.
The Tenant. You Can't Burn Us All. (2021)
The Tenant. You Can't Burn Us All. (2021)
The peace of mind of a tenement house in Warsaw’s Mokotów district is shattered by the appearance of the alleged legal owner of the building. Using ruthless methods, the man starts forcing more families to move out. Janina Markowska is the most determined in her fight for the right to her apartment. When Janina disappears in mysterious circumstances, the police start investigating.
Supermarket (2012)
Supermarket (2012)
The Wareckis, an average married couple, stop at a store returning home on New Year’s Eve. The husband goes shopping, the wife stays in the car and waits for him, hours go by but he does not return, in fact, nobody can find him anywhere... A series of seemingly minor events transforms these simple characters’ lives into a gripping horror-thriller, a wild and disturbing image of the impact of consumerism.
The Red Spider (2015)
The Red Spider (2015)
Karol, an ordinary young man, runs into a much older man, whom he believes to be a Red Spider, the terrifying serial killer, prowling the streets of Cracow in 1960s. Karol becomes obsessed with the man and spies on him.
Case Unknown (2009)
Case Unknown (2009)
An arrogant medical man discovers there's more to his new patient than he imagined in this drama from Polish filmmaker Feliks Falk. Dr. Konstanty Grot is an ambitious young doctor who is determined to make a name for himself, to the point that his wife often accuses him of being more interested in his career than in her. Grot believes that he can earn the respect of his peers by successfully treating a supposedly incurable patient, and he believes he may have found a likely candidate in Pawel Plocki, a mental patient who can barely function. Grot signs Plocki out of the mental hospital where he's been treated for years and moves him into his own home; in time, Plocki shows genuine improvement, and Grot thinks he?s beaten the state medical establishment at their own game. But that?s before Grot learns some secrets about his patient that cast his condition in a new and disturbing light.
Safe Inside (2019)
Safe Inside (2019)
Young lovers Tom and Ana, travelling through Europe, find work at the estate of the otherworldly Richard. Remote and cut off, they soon realise that they need to escape Richard’s powerful and controlling mind, before he traps them in his imagined world.
Eastern (2020)
Eastern (2020)
In Poland, behind the gates of an exclusive housing estate, the life of its wealthy residents is regulated by an old code of honor, due to which the Kowalskis and the Nowaks have been embroiled in a bloody family feud for years.
The Secret of Little Rose (2023)
The Secret of Little Rose (2023)
Joanna Warczewska, daughter of an eminent writer, is at the peak of her life. Her thriving political career and family happiness are instantly destroyed by a terrorist attack in which her beloved husband is killed. When fate gives her a new chance in life, another blow hits her. Someone sends her photos and documents undermining her family ties and suggesting that her mother has collaborated with the Security Service in the past. Joanna decides to conduct a historical investigation on her own and unravel the mystery that casts a shadow on her family. What she discovers not only makes her look at her mother in a completely different way, but will also make her find her own identity. Joanna will be forced to face the blackmailer herself and make a choice that will change her life forever.
My Pleasure (2018)
My Pleasure (2018)
Ada decides to play in a pornographic film. During preparations for the production, the girl slowly loses confidence. The situation gets complicated when the protagonist gets a call from her ex-boyfriend on stage. Ada tries to delay her performance but the pressure of the environment becomes stronger and stronger.
The Refuge (1978)
The Refuge (1978)
In 1946, a former resistance fighter starts working as a forester in a small town in Masuria. The local people don't trust him, robberies are common and his old flame is married to another man.
Baby Blues (2013)
Baby Blues (2013)
Natalia is a 17-year-old mom living with her mother and son, Antos. She wanted to have a baby because it was a “cool” thing to do, and because she feels she has someone to love; someone who can love her in return. Everything changes when Natalia’s mother decides to move out, giving Natalia a chance to lead a “normal life.”
Palimpsest (2006)
Palimpsest (2006)
Marek, the main character of "Palimpsest," is a police inspector, a man on the verge of psychological disintegration trying to solve an intricate case. The story is told on two planes. The first one is a crime story, which constitutes the framework of the film. In the course of events, another theme appears - psychological experiences of the main character. Vivid blend of picture with sound and music will draw the audience into the deepest recesses of Marek's mind, making the viewers face questions: What is reality and what is only an illusion? Where is the borderline between the real world and our perception of it? What makes suffering meaningful and what is really important in one's life"?
Fisheye (2020)
Fisheye (2020)
A young scientist Anna Waterman is kidnapped after making a scientific breakthrough in a research project.
You Will Not Have Peace (1978)
You Will Not Have Peace (1978)
After leaving prison, Tolek plans to get revenge on his former girlfriend.