Detective Forst

The last minutes of this seven series thriller were ruined by a poor end that I cannot spoil further here. These episodes included everything that you expect from a dark murder mystery. The soundtrack and special sounds made it really creepy. The main actors delivered a top performance and I watched it in original language with French subtitles. Nice landscapes of Poland that I have never seen before offered the perfect atmosphere. The running time of each part wasn't too long and it was never boring. This novel has been written by the polish writer Remigiusz Mróz.

It is not a very new and never shown story but the elements were original. I would have rated 7/10 but as I told at the beginning the end was disappointing and so the final vote is 6/10.

The latest offering from Netflix Polski (or whatever they call themselves) offers something of a dilemma. Forst is the filming of a novel about a 'renegade / maverick' - aren't they all? - detective, the eponymous Forst, and I, for one, suspect that there are crucial elements in the novel which either didn't make it to the series or perhaps could not make it.

In short, in a sense the sum of its parts just don't make it into a whole. We are left to choose: is this 'a thriller', 'a psycho-drama' investigating childhood trauma or perhaps, least likely of all, an 'art film' masquerading as a thriller. Whichever it is - and I'm not at all sure - it leaves just a little to be desired.

Because I prefer to avoid giving spoilers in my reviews rather than tick the 'spoilers' box, I must tread carefully, but I shall do my best. But, frankly, Forst jumps the shark rather too often. Sometimes that doesn't matter - as we say 'it's not the joke, it's the telling of the joke'. But with Forst unfortunately it does matter.

Forst kicks off with two highly unusual murders, which are both so elaborate the staging of the bodies could not have been achieved by just one person. Then Forst is introduced and I have to say he doesn't really come across as the 'maverick' we are invited to accept that he is.

There follow, in the each of the six episodes of the series, a number of initially obscure elements (and perhaps I am a tad thick), but one or three remained more than a little obscure when the final scene faded to black. Another unfortunate development is that the 'plot' or whatever one wants to call it makes 90 degree turn in the last two episodes and although both 'plots' are seemingly related, none of it is too convincing and the connection between them is not at all clear. Perhaps it will all come a little clearer in 'the second series'.

Then there's the cinematography and the soundtrack: both are more than intriguing and interesting, but neither is 'relevant'. In fact, both are in many ways what is 'best' about the series but both add to a suspicion that Forst is rather too much style and not enough content. And again I am left with the impression that cinematography, especially all that weird camera angled stuff and music borrowing heavily from electronica do the heavy lifting in a great many films.

Take away either, especially 'wacky' soundtrack and that 'thrilling', horror or mystifying scene pretty much doesn't stack up. Both before the function - as here in Forst - of informing the viewer 'right this is the frightening bit'. Taking out the garbage or going down the shop can seem 'mysterious', 'horrifying' or 'thrilling' if you slap a soundtrack on the footage of the deed.

I'm stymied in my comments by my stated commitment not to include spoilers, but I can say that when the final scene does fade to black, there are more than enough loose ends - and not just that final scene - to irritate.

As I say, in many ways Forst is the triumph of style over content. That is fair enough if that is your bag and it often is for me. But I do get the feeling Forst is playing both ends agains the middle and wanting its cake and eating it. Sadly, something doesn't quite come off. That's a shame, but that's as it is.

At the time of writing this has a 5.6 rating on IMdB. That might be misleading: Forst is a great ride, but somehow, though, ita doesn't quite deliver.

I thought my eyes would roll out of my head 10 minutes in, and it just kept getting worse.

Tries way too hard to be gritty and atmospheric with every scene, no matter how pedestrian, framed (and scored) to feel like the pivotal moment in a thriller where Our Hero goes into the serial killer's lair. If you tried to turn this into a drinking game where you had to take a shot every time it copied a better writer/director, you'd need your stomach pumped halfway through the first episode.

I'm a native Polish speaker, so nothing was lost in translation.

Honestly deserves a lower rating, in purely objective terms, but compared to the state of television today, a five feels fair.

I read the books a while back and remember them being pompously written, with repetitive descriptions, and the characters' main personality traits being what they wore, the kind of chewing gum they liked and how much they swore. The series has similar 'depth' and it's over reliant on you having to fill in the gaps in the plot.

The choice of the main actor was also quite predictable, although personally I imagined Forst differently, but thats only a personal opinion.

You get to see the beauty of the Polish mountains though, and if you're not too fussed about things making sense then give it a go.

This series has an excellent premise, a very interesting and solid development, a severe amount of violence, a cunning villain, relatively well-developed characters, a fluid and tense script, good actors, good performances, atmosphere and photography that are always heavy and suffocating, in other words the almost perfect recipe. At times it even reminded me of Seven.

But the ending is absolutely disappointing. I even think that the final scene was written on purpose to leave a hook for a second season. However, I believe that if there is, it will be clear that everything would be resolved with one more episode, not an entire season. It would give a rate of 7, but with that ending, 6 is enough.

Some screenwriters need to be humble and remember that sometimes less can be more.