A Short Film About Killing

Waldemar Rekowski is introduced as a middle-aged, overweight taxi driver in Warsaw who takes pleasure in staring at young women. He drives the city, his crude habits shaping his routine and interactions with others.

Jacek Łazar, a 19-year-old drifter, has just arrived in the city and spends his days causing misfortunes. He provocatively interacts with people: he throws a stranger into urinals, drops a stone from a bridge to cause an accident, and disturbs pigeons to annoy an old lady.

At the same cafe, Piotr Balicki, a fresh-lawyer, brings his wife to discuss their future. Jacek sits nearby, handling a rope and a stick from his bag and then puts them away when he notices two girls playing. This moment reveals Jacek's unsettling dual life and his capacity for quiet restraint.

It is revealed that Jacek is deeply traumatized by the death of his sister, a memory that fuels his later actions. This backstory helps explain his unsettling flirtations and unpredictable cruelty.

Waldemar spots Jacek near the cafe and stops to pick him up, beginning a long ride toward a remote part of the city. Jacek asks to be driven to a countryside area and insists the driver take a longer, more secluded route.

At the destination, Jacek murders Waldemar by strangling him with rope, then beating him with an iron bar and crushing his head with a rock. The crime is brutal and decisive, carried out with cold efficiency.

Sometime after the murder, Jacek is captured and imprisoned. He is interviewed by his criminal defense lawyer Piotr Balicki, who has just begun his career after finishing studies.

Despite Piotr's best efforts, the evidence against Jacek is strong and he is found guilty. He is sentenced to death by hanging.

On the appointed day, the executioner arrives at the jail and Piotr attends, learning that he has just become a father. The atmosphere is tense as the state prepares to carry out the sentence.

Before his execution, Jacek reveals to Piotr that his younger sister was killed by a tractor driven by his drunken friend, a tragedy that haunted him. He asks that Piotr retrieve a photo from his belongings and give it to his mother, and requests to be buried next to his sister and father.

Jacek receives last rites and is offered a final cigarette by the warden. He asks for a non-filter cigarette, and the executioner lights one for him before it is stubbed out.

Despite the guards' attempts to restrain him, Jacek breaks free and yells as he is led to the execution chamber. He is eventually hanged after his hands are shackled, marking the formal end of his life.

In the aftermath, Piotr drives to an empty field and sobs, reflecting on the case and the limits of justice. The film closes with this quiet moment of personal tragedy.