Jakub Gierszał
Leopold Bilski
Overview
Investigating the disappearance of children in a remote Polish town, prosecutor Leopold Bilski must unravel a sinister local legend before it's too late.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
4 min readThe Town That Swallows Its Children
I kept thinking about the foxes.
Not the metaphorical ones—the actual animals in Colors of Evil: Black, the ones that appear in that sudden, sickening burst of violence midway through the film. There’s something about the way they’re framed: small, skittish, their fur matted with something darker than rain. They don’t belong in the scene, not really, and yet they’re there, forced into the frame like an afterthought, or a warning.
Adrian Panek doesn’t linger on them, but he doesn’t have to. The image sticks. It’s the kind of detail that makes you wonder if the director is showing off or just unable to look away.
The film is set in a remote Kashubian town where children keep disappearing, and prosecutor Leopold Bilski (Jakub Gierszał) is sent to investigate. That’s the premise, but it’s not really the story. The story is in the way the town resists him—not with barricades or guns, but with silence.
The kind of silence that hums in the spaces between words, that settles over a room like dust. Panek shoots the place as if it’s already a crime scene: the fog never lifts, the streets are empty even when they’re not, and the few faces we see are either guarded or guilty. It’s beautiful in the way a bruise is beautiful—vibrant at the edges, sickly at the center.
Gierszał is the perfect vessel for this kind of dread. He’s got that rare quality of being both intensely present and utterly unreadable, like a man who’s spent years learning how to disappear into himself. His Bilski is a prosecutor, but he moves through the town like a ghost, observing more than he speaks.
There’s a scene early on where he stands in a dimly lit hallway, listening to a local official spin some half-truth about the missing kids. Gierszał doesn’t react. He just tilts his head slightly, as if adjusting the angle of his skepticism.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.0/10
"A bleak, atmospheric Polish crime thriller powered by strong performances but undercut by a confusing, overstuffed plot and heavy subject matter."
The moody cinematography, Kashubian setting, and a committed turn from Jakub Gierszał give the story a gripping, oppressive tone, with several viewers calling it a solid, if disturbing, crime thriller. latestnetflix.com's read is that at the same time, the narrative loads in too many threads and suspects, leading to confusion, a sluggish middle, and a finale that feels rushed and less impactful than the premise promises.
What viewers praise
- Compelling lead performance Jakub Gierszał is frequently singled out for bringing a calm, intense presence to the prosecutor, making him engaging to watch throughout the investigation.
- Strong character dynamics The evolving relationship between the prosecutor and his key ally is described as authentic and emotionally grounding amid the grim storyline.
- Powerful atmosphere Dark tone, constant tension, and disturbing subject matter create a sense of dread that lingers beyond individual scenes.
- Striking Kashubian setting Foggy forests, coastal landscapes, and small-town locations are praised as visually beautiful and essential to the film’s brooding mood.
- Engaging core mystery The disappearance case and underlying web of secrets are seen as interesting enough to keep viewers watching despite the flaws.
Common complaints
- Overstuffed and confusing Numerous suspects, side characters, and subplots make it hard to track who is who and what actually matters to the central case.
- Predictable crime template Several viewers describe the thriller framework as schematic and easy to foresee, without the kind of twists that would elevate it.
- Uneven pacing The middle stretch feels sluggish while the ending moves too fast, giving the impression of a story that might have worked better as a miniseries.
- Underused potential Comments point to strong ingredients—good cast, potent themes, eerie setting—that never fully come together into something truly memorable.
- Emotionally punishing content The focus on child abuse, long-buried crimes, and collateral trauma makes the film hard to stomach for viewers sensitive to these topics.
Recommended for
Dark European crime drama fans Atmospheric mystery lovers Polish thriller collectors Slow-burn procedural enthusiasts Viewers tolerant of grim themes
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsPoland called it leftover meat. Twenty countries put it in the Top 10.
Colors of Evil: Black landed on Netflix on 10 June 2026 and did the thing Polish critics keep refusing to do. It traveled. The streamer's own week of 8 to 14 June put Adrian Panek's sequel at number one among non-English films, with more than 14 million views in five days and a Top 10 slot in 20 countries. The next week it held the same non-English crown with another 7.5 million. The 2024 first film, Colors of Evil: Red, crawled back onto that chart on Black's heat with 1.4 million views. latestnetflix.com's read is that Polish Elle later counted the sequel past 23 million inside three weeks.
That split is the story. Filmweb sat near 6.0 from viewers and 5.1 from critics. Interia handed it a 3 out of 10 and said Jakub Gierszal was fighting a limp script. Common Sense Media's Barbara Shulgasser-Parker gave it two stars and wrote that characters stop to explain, at length, what happened 20 years ago. Polish comment threads reached for "gniot" and "mielonka," local insults for a lump of leftover meat. The movie still opened at number one in Poland, ahead of a Jennifer Lopez office romance. Netflix does not grade on Filmweb. , ,
Kashubia on the page. Kociewie on the call sheet.
Panek wrote and directed both films for Aurum Film, from Malgorzata Oliwia Sobczak's crime novels. Gierszal is back as prosecutor Leopold Bilski. Marianna Zydek plays writer Julia Sarman. Andrzej Chyra is commander Andrzej Pakosz. The book parks the case in Kashubia. The cameras did not. Coverage puts principal photography in Gniew, a Kociewie town one region over. Panek invented the town name Trulocz from the Kashubian word for a common crane and borrowed the layout from Kartuzy. There is even a tourist page for a place that does not exist. That is the kind of production flex you only bother with when a streamer already knows the first movie printed money. ,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RktPUnAxM2g
Sobczak's sixth novel, Green, was already on shelves while Black was still shooting. Producers announced the sequel in October with a line about Kashubian myths, unspoken crimes, and generational trauma. The official trailer went up in May. Runtime is 110 minutes. Language is Polish. Distribution is Netflix only. ,
The awkward part is the franchise math. Red was mauled at home in 2024 and still became a global non-English hit. Black is the same trick, louder. If Netflix wants a third color, the books are waiting. If Polish Twitter wants a third color, that is a different poll.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
Similar Movies
Related titles ranked by rating and popularity.
