Jack Strong

Jack Strong is a Polish historical thriller centred on Ryszard Kukliński, a senior officer in the Polish military establishment during the communist era. While helping prepare Warsaw Pact exercises, Kukliński comes to understand that in the event of a war between East and West, nuclear strikes would fall on Polish territory. The violent suppression of workers' protests on the Baltic coast in December 1970, and a philosopher's self-immolation in protest against the invasion of Czechoslovakia, push him further toward a decision. Risking his own life and his family's safety, he makes contact with American intelligence and begins a long secret collaboration with the CIA.

The film is directed and written by Władysław Pasikowski, who made his debut in 1992 and returned to features here after an extended break. Marcin Dorociński plays Kukliński, with Maja Ostaszewska as his wife, alongside Patrick Wilson, Oleg Maslennikov, Dimitri Bilov, and Dagmara Domińczyk.

Set in the early 1970s, the film dramatises events described as based on a true story and runs for just over two hours. It drew considerably more attention on IMDb, where it holds a 7 out of 10 from around 5,700 voters, than on TMDB, where its average sits at 6.5 from roughly 140 ratings. Made for about 3 million dollars, it was produced with backing from Polish cultural and media institutions and is the second of the director's features in the listed order.