Set in modern day Cracow (as hight-lighted by countless overhead shots of the iconic Polish city), "Uwiklanie" is a Polish crime thriller, which immediately reminded me of the old television features based on Agatha Christie novels. It should come to no surprise that it was actually based on a story by local crime novelist Zygmunt Miloszewski. But unlike in a English crime drama, the movie slowly detaches itself from the procedural and delves into a political thriller rife with Communist-era underpinnings.
In a suburban villa a group of individuals undergo a group therapy with famed psychologist Antoni Szacki (Piotr Adamczyk). After one session, a visibly disturbed and ruffled Henryk Telak (Krzysztof Globisz) storms out, thus prematurely ending the evening's work. The next morning Telak is found dead, murdered with a rake through the eyeball. All of the participants become prime suspects, however when newly appointed state prosecutor Agata (Maja Ostaszewska) and her former boyfriend, now police-officer Slawomir Smolar (Marek Bukowski) start investigating, the implications of the case start to far exceed a simple murder. The whole case is further complicated when local businessman (Andrzej Seweryn) shows a keen interest in its resolution.
Fronted by the two terrible leads of Ostaszewska (whose primary goal seemed to centred around looking good in high-heels) and Bukowski, whose acting ranges should explicitly eliminate them from any further lead roles and an outdated directorial approach of Jacek Bromski, the saving grace comes from the story itself, which is well research from a psychological standpoint and meticulously built. The overall feature falters making it seem like a slight escapade more suited for television as a low-key Friday night feature, than cinemas, while the obsessive focus on the communist security services can just be distracting overall. Most likely the truth has been burned whilst the Iron Curtain was toppling, but dwelling on the past in such an incessant fashion seems like crying over spilt milk. As a pure crime thriller nonetheless this is a workable, and even enjoyable, feature.
