It used to be quite complicated for Polish production to achieve success beyond the Polish-speaking public. However, the democratisation of streaming platforms allowed for otherwise less-known films to be enjoyed across the globe. As a result, several Polish films achieved worldwide success. Maciej Kawulski’s last cut is one of them. 

During its premiere weekend, How I Became a Gangster was ranked 3rd among the biggest Netflix hits. Only the premiere of The Pale Blue Eye starring Christian Bale and the second part of the most expensive production in the history of Netflix, „Glass Onion” turned out to be more popular in early 2023. 

https://twitter.com/MaciejKawulski/status/1610696701597171726?s=20&t=zos1JDAJpxerH7FvD96Aww

How I Became a Gangster is a Polish film about an unnamed gangster’s journey from being the son of a taxi driver to becoming a mafia boss in the outskirts of Warsaw. 

The Polish production is currently among the three most popular Netflix movies among others in Brazil, Estonia, Greece, Israel, Malaysia, Morocco, Portugal, Serbia, Ukraine, and Vietnam. 

https://twitter.com/NewOnNetflixUK/status/1610546639906676738

It even made it to the top ten in the United States. Maciej Kawulski’s sensational drama is also currently Netflix’s number one among non-English titles. It also scored an impressive 92% of positive reviews on the popular review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. 

Kawulski’s film was first successful in Poland. It could be seen in Polish cinemas à couple of months before the implementation of epidemiological restrictions. Over 1.14 million people saw it on big screens back then. 

Image: Netflix

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen