The Woods (Netflix Poland) S01: B+

Back in 1994 Pawel (played by Hubert Milkowski) attended a summer camp along with his sister Kamila (played by Martyna Byczkowska) and other friends and some chaperones. Back then two of his friends were murdered and two went missing, one of them was his sister. In present day Pawel (played by Grzegorz Damiecki) now a prosecutor with a complicated and very public case in his hands, is contacted by a detective, so that he can recognize a body that was found, an adult male that was murdered. The detective believes there is a connection between Pawel and the victim. Pawel recognizes him as Artur who along with his sister disappeared back at that camp. So if Arthur is alive there is hope that Kamila's also alive. There is also Laura (played by Agnieszka Grochowska) at that camp she was dating Pawel, in present day she's a married professor at a university. After asking her students for an anonymous essay telling some secrets of their past, she comes across one particular essay that seems to be describing Laura's experience at that camp. She tries to investigate which of her students is playing with her and why, which motivates her to contact Pawel and ask for some help.

This miniseries is based on the novel by Harlan Coben. Netflix England just adapted another of his novels The Stranger. This basic premise of The Woods hooked me from the very first episode.

Although it has a slow pace, the series demands that you pay close attention to it. Not only for the fact that you have to read the subtitles, but also for the details that the story contains that helps Pawel on both of his mysteries. With only six episodes the story at a steady pace slowly unfolds.

There is a lot of drama going on both in 1994 and in present day. But the story focus mostly on Pawel and that unfortunate summer camp. They do have more interesting moments in his life, like the death of his wife, but the series doesn't navigate into that subject as much as I would have liked.

Other than that I have no complains from the show. It has great performances from both Pawels and Adam Wietrzynski who plays young Arthur. Great production and cinematography, that looks like at some point would turn into a fantasy or sci fi series. But the werewolf, vampire or zombies never make an entrance.

Just the dramatic looks of this polish woods that feel to be in the middle of nowhere. In contrast with this lost woods, there's also sequences of Pawel at present day driving thru very complicated highways. That tells me that the story is unfold in an important city with astonishing woods close by.

The suspense is very well handled although they were some parts at its resolution that didn't fit too well, but once Pawel starts unfolding the mystery things start to connect more organic and in ways that make more sense.

This is a great binge for the weekend or maybe to watch it one episode per night during a week, to keep the suspense and talk about your own theories with a special someone.