REVIEW: ‘The Hooligan’ Is Bleak and Unflinching

The Hooligan is a Polish language limited series available on Netflix. It is directed by Łukas Palkowski and written by Klaudiusz Kuś. The show stars Grzegorz Palkowski, Mila Jankowksa, Karol Pocheć, Marta Źmuda Trzebiatowska and Wojciech Zielinski.

Hooliganism is a form of violence only associated with football/soccer. Football clubs across the globe have hardcore supporters (known as ultras) who are there to build and create an atmosphere with megaphones, scarves, and other means. At the extreme end of that are firms and groups of hooligans that set out to intimidate opposing fans, often leading to disorder and fighting. Many of the firms go to the football games with the intention of fighting. It is a fascinating subculture found in almost any country where they kick a ball, but especially in Eastern Europe and, notably, Poland.

The series opens with a troubled family of four recently returning to normal after the father, Michal (Pocheć), is released from prison. He takes his son, Kuba (Palkowski), to a football match as a proud supporter of their club, Gladius. Kuba soon gets drawn into the intoxicating allure of the Wolfpack, the hooligan firm selling drugs for them and their leader, Zyga (Zielinski). He gets involved with Blanka (Jankowksa), a pretty, feisty, intelligent girl who needs money fast, and through his actions, the two firms get closer and closer to a gang war.

The Hooligan’s plot is exceptionally dark.

The plot starts hopeful and becomes more brutal, violent, and devastating as the show progresses. The football itself is barely mentioned, focusing on a more prominent family and crime drama. But it is the club that sucks the family in and seeks to tear it apart with its code’s rules and divisiveness. Early in the five-episode limited series, it can be easy to predict when the story is going.

Once Kuba starts making plans with Blanka, things begin to go wrong. But the ferocity of the consequences is what is so shocking. And that is only half the story. What follows is a constant escalation and the ramifications of those actions. The predictability is a red herring, and the rest of the episodes are horrifying surprises.

There are some small pieces of humor early in The Hooligan, but that vanishes by the last episodes. It’s a vicious, heartbreaking set of conclusions that makes the story harrowing. It’s open-ended, but with a feeling that this violence is cyclical.

The lead character is portrayed by a phenomenal actor, (Palkowski), who captivates the audience more than anyone else in The Hooligan. Kuba undergoes a physical transformation, and the depiction of that is superb. When first introduced, he’s an impressionable kid who gets enticed into the Wolfpack and the wealthy, all-powerful leader, Zyga. He’s ready to fight, but some parts are still redeemable within him.

But as the series progresses, Kuba progresses from a teenager to a psychopath. He is corrupted and traumatized, leading to his reprehensible actions. The actor’s silence is often more frightening than his words. He has a piercing stare and a curious smile that can be intriguing and murderous. He has to change entirely after half the season, altering how he looks and moves. The further Kuba gets down a dark road, the harder it is for those around him to pull him back. The desperation to try and help is repetitive, becoming more useless as time passes.

The other characters are also pivotal to the story and the culture generated. Every one of them has secrets and has made mistakes. Mikhail’s code and loyalty put him in jail, which separated him from his family. Michal is intense and scary yet sometimes gentle. He is desperate for his son not to do the same things he did, but he still swears by the same codes and has a die-hard devotion to his football club.

Kuba’s mother, Justyna (Źmuda Trzebiatowska), is exhausted after seeing two men in her life be consumed by a culture that leads them to crime and violence. But a horrific lapse of judgment is what puts Kuba in the crosshairs of a man who will ultimately ruin his life. Secrets, crimes, and actions all have consequences. Kuba results from generations of failure, hatred, and a code that costs lives.

Then there is Blanka, Kuba’s girlfriend. She’s instantly captivating, with a defiant attitude and a roguish exterior that belies an incredible intelligence. Her relationship with Kuba is affectionate and sweet but ultimately toxic. There is toxicity in all of the relationships in The Hooligan. Many aspects of the show feel uncomfortable towards women, treating them as property or sex objects. But that is an attempt to show the primitive nature of the men. After all, the women recognize just how ridiculous this lifestyle is.

Power is key, and characters can feel helpless and hopeless when faced with opposition from a whole community. Blanka is perhaps the one character whose guilt isn’t entirely exposed enough. She does things out of desperation and a desire for a better life, but that leads to danger for Kuba, not necessarily for Blanka.

The Hooligan’s darkness is captured through the production design and editing.

The setting is dark, dingy, and hostile, highlighting the poverty in the area and how that can be exploited. The Hooligan is an intensely violent show, but there are always consequences to the violence. Each punch thrown draws blood. At no point does the director glorify the violence the characters commit, instead trying to hammer home the ramifications.

The music is often diegetic, appearing within the scene. It plays through headphones and stops when the characters remove them. Not all songs fit the show, but many episodes are comfortable with background noise or even silence.

The level of morbidity means that The Hooligan is not for everybody, and some moments can leave the audience feeling sick. It’s unpleasant, which is precisely the life everyone involved eventually feels. This show delivers consequences for almost every action, holding characters responsible for the crimes they commit. As the gang war escalates, it tears a whole city to pieces.

The Hooligan is bleak and unflinching. It perfectly encapsulates the death spiral in which hooliganism traps its members. From how it’s presented, Kuba’s surroundings put him on a dark path, but he is not an innocent victim. It’s a somber, depressing series, but it needs telling to highlight the danger of firms and their violence. What they do to people can be humiliating, life-changing, and debilitating. The characters are three–dimensional and grounded, all looking real and engrossing.

The Hooligan is streaming now exclusively on Netflix.