Detective Forst – Netflix Series Review

DETECTIVE FORST on Netflix is a new crime thriller series from Poland. As always, the production is gorgeous and the story brutal. This season has six 45-minute episodes. Read our Detective Forst season 1 review here!

DETECTIVE FORST is a new Netflix series from Poland. We’re in the crime, thriller, and mystery genres. Also, the story is all about hunting down a brutal serial killer. One with a flair for the dramatic – not quite in the vein of Se7en, but along those lines.

These Netflix productions from Poland always have the most amazing production value, so you’re in for a treat. The season has just six episodes, so it’s a quick watch. For me, the story felt too forced, so maybe a few more episodes would’ve been a good idea.

Continue reading our Detective Forst season 1 review below. Find it on Netflix from January 11, 2024.

A serial killer is on the loose

We’re in the Tatra Mountains in Poland, which means we also keep seeing the altitude we’re in. In these otherwise beautiful and calm mountains, a series of murders happen. The victims are always found in very creative places – and poses!

The first is found hanging on a huge cross at the top of a mountain peak, so it’s quite symbolic as well. The discovery that a serial killer is the perpetrator is easy to make; The killer leaves a gold coin in the mouth of each victim, making it clear that they are connected.

Detective Wiktor Forst is assigned the case (well, at first, anyway) and is quick to utilize the help of a journalist named Olga Szrebska. This isn’t popular, so he’s taken off the case again. Not that this stops him from still investigating it.

The fact that he’s sleeping with the daughter of the police chief probably doesn’t help.

Borys Szyc is Detective Forst

As the main character, Borys Szyc (Cold War) portrays Forst as the broken and vulnerable man he is. As a police detective, he uses unorthodox methods and even works on cases that he’s been removed from.

I know this is a classic brooding male detective type we see in many crime thrillers, but it doesn’t always work as well. In Detective Forst, the title character worked better for me than I expected it to.

A lot of that has to be thanks to how Borys Szyc portrays the character. Also, you might not recognize the name, but you could recognize his face if you’ve watched the Netflix series Into the Night which had a very international cast.

Watch season 1 of Detective Forst on Netflix now!

Season 1 has six episodes and is based on books by Remigiusz Mroz. Detective Forst season 1 is based on the novels “Exposure” and “Przewieśnie”, which are the two first books in the “Forst” book series.

THE INFLUENCES OF THE AUTHOR

Remigiusz Mroz is a Goodreads Author and lists his influences as being Stephen King, Jo Nesbø, and Stieg Larsson. And yes, it does come across.

The fact that this is based on a book series just makes it all the better that the director of the series is Leszek Dawid.

He has experience with directing the Polish series based on a Harlan Coben book titled The Woods. Leszek Dawid also directed episodes of the Polish Netflix series Feedback, which is another good production.

On the writing side, the script comes from Agata Malesinska, who worked on two Harlan Coben-based series with both The Woods and Hold Tight. Also writing on the series is Jacek Markiewicz.

Will we get a Detective Forst season 2?

As the final moments of episode 6 play out, you’ll probably be wondering if we’re getting a Detective Forst season 2. The answer is unknown at this time, however, surely Netflix is ready to make a season 2 if this first season is a success.

And there are more books to adapt, so the material is already there to work off of, if and when Netflix decides to make a season 2 of Detective Forst.

Detective Forst season 1 is on Netflix from January 11, 2024.

Details

Director: Leszek Dawid
Screenwriters: Agata Malesinska, Jacek Markiewicz
Cast: Borys Szyc, Zuzanna Saporznikow, Andrzej Bienias, Kamilla Baar, Aleksandra Grabowska, Szymon Wróblewski, Maciej Pesta, Artur Barciś, Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik, Piotr Franasowicz, Remigiusz Mróz