Spoor 2021

The film takes place in the secluded mountains of the Klodzko Valley in south-western Poland, where an eccentric elderly woman, Janina Duszejko, cohabits with her beloved two dogs. One fateful day, while driving a local woman known as Dobra Nowina to the store, her dogs mysteriously vanish. This prompts Duszejko to confront her neighbor, a notorious poacher she refers to as “Big Foot,” who lays gruesome traps where animals perish painfully. The situation escalates when she is awakened one night by Matoga, another nearby resident, who brings the shocking news of Big Foot’s demise.

As Duszejko is questioned by the local police chief, she expresses her concerns regarding her missing pets, but her worries are dismissed as irrelevant. Following this interaction, the police chief meets with Jaroslaw Wnetrzak, a local businessman, who exerts pressure on him regarding a financial debt. Feeling unheard, Duszejko seeks solace from the local priest but is reprimanded for her blasphemous sentiment regarding animals. Disturbed by the rampant hunting and senseless killing in the area, she attempts to disrupt a hunt, only to be humiliated by Wnetrzak.

As winter sets in, Duszejko, along with Dyzio, an IT expert affiliated with the police, encounter the police chief’s abandoned vehicle. To their horror, they discover the chief’s lifeless body, suffering from a fatal head injury, with animal tracks nearby. Despite presenting her findings and astrological theories to Prokurator Swierszczynski, Matoga’s son, Duszejko’s insights are dismissed. She forges a friendship with Dyzio and Dobra Nowina, the latter now under Wnetrzak’s oppressive work arrangements at a shop by day and a brothel by night. Dyzio is grateful to Duszejko for keeping his epilepsy a secret, worried that revealing it could cost him his job. Meanwhile, Dobra Nowina grapples with the turmoil of her younger brother being abused at home, having been reported as unfit to care for him by Wnetrzak.

In the summer months, Duszejko encounters a Czech entomologist, Boros Schneider, while in the forest. He unearths Wnetrzak’s decayed body, prompting a police report. As their relationship blossoms, Boros shares fascinating insights about pheromones that draw certain beetles to their mates. When questioned about Wnetrzak’s death by the prosecutor, Duszejko suggests that the hunters—now victims—were potentially hunted down by animals. Meanwhile, Dobra Nowina is arrested over threats made against Wnetrzak.

During a local costumed ball, Duszejko witnesses the drunken Prezes Wolski mistreat his wife, urging her to leave, promising to ensure he safely returns home. However, the following day, police arrive at her doorstep, apprehending her for the mayor’s murder due to her last known sighting of him. In her defense, she claims to have sought him out that evening, incorrectly assuming he had been escorted home by someone else. Struggling to make her astrological theories understood, she inadvertently flusters the police before being released.

After being disturbed by the priest’s sermon glorifying hunters, Duszejko is expelled from church. Outside, she sees a magpie, prompting memories of her previous claim that these birds ignite fires by nesting with cigarette butts. Haunted by flashbacks, she realizes that she inadvertently killed the police chief during a skiing accident and, fearing discovery, attempted to cover it up by manipulating the scene. Another memory reveals how she lured Wnetrzak into the forest for a fateful encounter that ultimately led to his demise, afterward liberating fur-bearing creatures from his farm.

Dyzio and Dobra Nowina, reflecting on the mayor’s death covered in beetles, uncover the correlation with Duszejko’s eccentric research on pheromones. Connecting the dots, they speculate on her involvement in the string of fatalities. When they learn of the church’s fire resulting in the priest’s death, they hastily visit Duszejko, who is found conferring with Matoga. They hand her a photo depicting local hunters proudly displaying their hunt’s spoils—among them, Duszejko’s two missing dogs.

Amidst the chaos, Matoga, Dyzio, and Dobra Nowina decide to help Duszejko escape the town as the police close in. Utilizing Dyzio’s tech skills, they manage to plunge the area into darkness, enabling their escape. The film concludes on a touching note, as Duszejko finds joy with two new dogs, surrounded by her friends and allies, including Boros, while they partake in a lively lunch, presumably in a neighboring country.