Ignacy Giżyński
There is something unsettling about the fact that a story which has left an indelible mark on Polish society is returning today as a series. However, Netflix has decided to tackle an exceptionally difficult subject — Scars is being created, a tale about Mariusz Trynkiewicz, referred to as the "Satan from Piotrków". The direction is handled by Kasper Bajon, the creator of Great Water and Project UFO, who — if his previous projects are anything to go by — is capable of conveying the weight of dramatic events without cheap shock tactics.
Everyone in Poland has heard of Trynkiewicz. A former PE teacher, quiet, unremarkable, yet capable of acts that are beyond any scale of cruelty. In 1988, he brutally murdered four boys. He was sentenced to death, but after changes in Polish law, the sentence was commuted to 25 years in prison. When he was released, he was placed in a centre in Gostynin as a person posing a threat to society. This story still evokes horror — also because it cannot be explained in a simple way.
The series will be filmed, among other places, in Łódź and Pabianice — locations that visually fit the atmosphere of the late PRL, when these events took place. Filming is already underway, and the premiere is scheduled for 2026. Netflix is opting for a slow but thorough pace – this is not about sensationalism, but something more: an attempt to understand how something so terrible could have happened and what it says about us as a society.
Scar could be one of those series that not only tells a story but lingers with the viewer long after the last episode.
