Lesley Manville plays stranded psychologist amid Warsaw martial law
In *Winter of the Crow*, British psychologist Professor Andrews becomes stranded in Warsaw as martial law is imposed in 1981. The film uses her disorientation and confinement to explore the fear and oppression of the period, blending a Cold War thriller with a Kafkaesque atmosphere.
Lesley Manville plays Andrews, invited to lecture on dreams and mental illness before protests disrupt her talk. After losing her bag and handing her passport to her student guide, Alina, Andrews wakes in a bleak tower-block district as tanks and secret police appear. The film is adapted from Olga Tokarczuk’s story and directed by Kasia Adamik; its surreal details include people keeping live carp in their baths before eating them. It opens in UK cinemas on 16 October.
- Lesley Manville plays a British academic stranded in Warsaw.
- Martial law turns her visit into a disquieting ordeal.
- The film reaches UK cinemas on 16 October.
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In 1981, Poland’s communist government imposed martial law amid growing opposition, including protests and the independent trade union Solidarity. The authorities used troops and secret police to restrict public life and detain opponents.
The film follows Professor Andrews, a British psychologist visiting Warsaw, as events leave her isolated and unsure whom to trust. Lesley Manville plays Andrews, and Alina, her student guide, is among the people she encounters. The story is adapted from a work by Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk and directed by Kasia Adamik.
The setting matters because Poland was caught between domestic demands for change and the wider Cold War rivalry between the Soviet bloc and the West. Andrews’s outsider perspective gives the story a way to show how political upheaval can affect an individual’s sense of safety and reality.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “Winter of the Crow review – Lesley Manville magnificently on edge in intriguing cold war thriller”.