The Mighty Angel

Jerzy is a writer and a serious drinker. We meet him at a point where he believes he can beat it. He falls in love with a young woman and finally feels he has a reason to stay alive. Then the drink comes back, as it always comes back. Wojciech Smarzowski weaves the story through the other patients in the treatment centre, what they say, and the fits. He neither makes any of them funny nor makes any of it romantic. Adapted from Jerzy Pilch's novel, and carried by Robert Więckiewicz's performance. Its most honest choice is that toward the end it shows the cycle rather than breaking it; it counts as one of the harshest Polish films made about addiction.