The apocalypse unfolds Before our eyes as traffic stops, people hastily abandon their workplaces, and pack their suitcases. Among those whom the spectre of war has suddenly deprived of income is Dawid. He wants to leave as quickly as possible, but his brother quite the opposite. Piotr, a member of a paramilitary unit, has just caught the wind in his sails; the approaching conflagration is an opportunity for him and his mates to finally emerge from the shadows, to taste real violence. The fraternal paths that were meant to diverge unexpectedly converge, and Dawid will have to fulfil Piotr's fantasies. Charismatic leadership, the promise of friendship unto death, patriotic raptures, the vision of adventure, the euphoria of agency, a sense of power — the unassuming boy succumbs to the corrupting charm of the male group and, imperceptibly to himself, crosses successive boundaries. Growing out of the personal experiences of debut filmmaker Michał Ciechomski, the film takes its departure from the words of a Cavafy poem: Now what’s going to happen to us without barbarians? Those people were a kind of solution, wrote the poet, and the young director tells of how creating enemies allows political manipulators to close ranks. The blood-chilling Kingdom unleashes terror onto our streets. And it is precisely this vision of violence in the mask of familiarity that makes Ciechomski's thriller so terrifying.

Małgorzata Sadowska