Petla

I wish I could take a peek into the mind of director Patryk Vega, even for a moment, because his films are absolutely crazy, and I’d love to see his thought process firsthand. Petla has one saving grace—the plot is based on true historical events, so I can’t fault Vega in that regard. However, there are aspects that just didn’t resonate with me. The character of a Ninja with a katana in a Polish SWAT team (what even is that?), and then there’s the over-the-top runtime filled with erotic scenes (I found myself questioning what I was even watching a few times). I get that the Poles make films with a good deal of exaggeration, but everything should have its limits. On the other hand, it has well-written characters, believable performances, and in the second half, I was genuinely interested in where the story was headed. But even that’s not enough to make me want to watch the film again. 6/10. (21/08/2021)

Patryk Vega is back! Poland's craziest butcher, known for Pitbull - Exodus, Women of Mafia and The Plagues of Breslau, delivers a bit of a gangster drama that won't disappoint fans of his previous work. Based on true events, the story focuses on a cop who plans to get rid of all the pimps far and wide and build his own brothel with Ukrainian girls and go big. Vega is once again off the rails and most of his familiar characters are back (the katana-wielding cop called Ninja is awesome). The main character undergoes an absolute physical and mental transformation, literally the disintegration of a man in the worst possible way. There's no shortage of raucous humor, WTF scenes, drugs, an incredible amount of sex, lots of beautiful naked women. The gore is tamed this time, but at least the falling silicon implants will stick in my memory. The first half is an adrenaline rush that goes from one scene to the next and almost doesn't let the viewer breathe, but towards the end the film runs a bit out of breath, but it’s still decent. Pros: Lots of naked women, crazy absurdist humor, dynamic pacing, interesting story. Cons: The best ninja character is absent in the second half, slower finish to the finale, not as brutal as usual for Vega. 7/10. (23/02/2021)

I’m simply a sucker for Patryk Vega's films. He put together a cast of superb actors, mixed them up with a few hammy ones, and filmed another of his politically incorrect trips to the Polish underworld based on true events. I had a great time watching this without having to like any of the characters. That would have been a tricky thing to do. Patryk Vega is not exactly a fan of good guys, quite the contrary. (19/10/2021)