Marek Drelich (played by Filip Pławiak) is a man leading a double life. We get to know him as a loving father of two children who tries to maintain friendly relations with his ex-wife, Iza (Marianna Zydek). Well, he tries, because he often doesn’t perform well as a father and partner. Denim hides a shady past. He is a professional burglar and thief.
His carefully planned life, in which he does not always manage to perfectly balance between family and unusual work, is turned upside down when Gdańsk gangster Wójcik (Paweł Małaszyński) discovers his alleged affair with his wife, Milena (Marta Żmuda Trzebiatowska). However, it turns out that Drelich has never met her, and someone is clearly impersonating him. In an instant, he becomes the target of the most dangerous people in the region. At the same time, he tries to discover who used his image and why.
The author of the script “Drelicha” is Bartosz Staszczyszyn, in cooperation with the author of the novel, Jakub Ćwiek. The director is Grzegorz Jaroszuk.
“Drelich” is another TVP series, after “Blood of Blood”, “Crusade”, “Bay of Spies” and “Profilerka”, which is intended to attract crowds to TV screens and then live its own life on the streaming platform. Personally, I waited until all the episodes were broadcast to watch them “at once”, but when assessing the series, I take into account that it was broadcast once a week.
I appreciate the production based on Ćwiek’s novel primarily for the world it creates. This is not a sugar-coated image that we often see in TVN series or Polish HBO Max productions. It is difficult to get involved in the fate of the characters if we are served an unrealistic background for the fate of the characters. There is then a hint of insincerity. “Drelich” avoids this. The action takes place in the gangster Tricity, and the emphasis is primarily on the realism of the underworld. The characters were also created in a way that makes it easy to believe that they could really exist. In this aspect, nothing has been exaggerated, and although we don’t usually associate with gangsters, the style shines with authenticity.
It is also worth appreciating the acting, which largely gives “Drelich” credibility. Marianna Zydek does a great job, although her success would not have been possible without a very interestingly written character. Staszczyszyn and Ćwiek created a real heroine, which is not obvious in the case of supporting characters in Polish series. Zydek used it perfectly – Iza is truly memorable and seems to be the most nuanced character of the entire production. Unlike the title Drelich. The hero played by Filip Pławiak is completely lost among such colorful characters as Iza or gangsters. It comes out pale, and the actor doesn’t have much room to maneuver. At times one even forgets that it is the axis of the plot.
I can’t help but criticize the re-casting of actors “according to the conditions”. Rafał Stachowiak and Przemysław Bluszcz play villains again, and although they do it flawlessly, there is a feeling of second-ness. However, Paweł Małaszyński is a positive surprise among them. In the role of a Tricity gangster, he is intense, disturbing and finally shows a completely new face, breaking away from the current image of a lover.
“Drelich” manages to keep the viewer interested in most of the episodes, although unfortunately it is an uneven series. Some episodes successfully create the world presented, but this happens at the expense of the pace of the action. If someone watches the series on a streaming platform, it will probably not be so disturbing, but I imagine that following the plot at weekly intervals could be tiring at times. However, this does not change the fact that in my opinion “Drelich” stands out positively from other Polish crime productions – mainly thanks to the believably created gangster world, strong acting roles, and also due to a rather unusual plot in which an increasingly current problem related to artificial intelligence plays a significant role.
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