Sometimes, we all love to follow some fictional dramas, or fan fiction, as younger generations call them. Kibic is one of those stories, showing the reality of football hooligans, drug dealing, love and clashes with the Polish police.
There are TV shows, and there are TV shows. Netflix’s production belongs to the first category, as it’s a mess. Quite a mess but still chaotic entertainment (if putting it that way makes any actual sense). We follow a 17-year-old Kuba Wójcik (played by a 32-year-old Grzegorz Palkowski, and yes, this casting doesn’t make any sense), who joins an illegal world of Polish football hooligans who fight for their clubs and live in their own fanatical microcosm.
As brutal as it might sound, it’s just another typical Polish drama, full of pathos, of shouting, cursing, fighting, dark colours and everything one can only imagine. Watching Kibic is actually like reading fanfiction about football enthusiasts. We’re here for the vibe, even though most of the script doesn’t really make any particular sense. Calling it a work of Chat GPT might be a massive overstatement, yet there’s something in it. We just cannot believe that a 17-year-old kid can do all those things, deal with much older gangsters and, from time to time, show them where their place is. However, we await another episode, mesmerized by the show’s unorthodox premise.
This is an ensemble show, so the rest of the cast delivers memorable performances and fits their roles. The list of talents includes Wojciech Zieliński, Marta Żmuda Trzebiatowska and Mila Jankowska. Anyhow, such shows are a collective work of many people, not only the cast.
Therefore, let’s put it this way: Kibic is not for everyone. It wasn’t for me, but if you’re looking for a more easygoing show to turn on after a hard day’s night (to quote a classic), this is a show for you. It’s not anything special, but it delivers if you’re able to forget about some narrative nonsense. It’s all about the suspension of disbelief.
Photo: Netflix
2/5 stars
Author: Jan Tracz
