This new sequel builds on the Polish crime series with a deeper, starker tone. Readysteadycut notes how it expands the bleak world and moves the story into the foreboding forests of Kashubia. Adrian Panek directs, adapting the novel Kolory Zła: Czerń. The ensemble, including Jakub Gierszał and Marianna Zydek, anchors a tale where violence feels even more personal than before.
Readysteadycut describes ‘Colors of Evil: Black’ as a direct step forward, not a reboot. Ideas and methods that made the first film succeed now expand in the sequel. Netflix continues adapting the book series but shifts its story from the city to the vast Kashubian woods. This setting becomes a real force, swallowing clues, old hurts, and hope. As the story unfolds, it ties regional history and deep trauma into every reveal. Readysteadycut explains that the movie grows much darker, pushing its cast into even murkier moral territory and never letting viewers relax. By building on the prior story and denying comfort, the series keeps finding new limits to push
A Cast Anchored by Contrasts
Emotion across the film depends on the cast, according to Leisurebyte. Jakub Gierszał plays Bilski, an outsider whose ways clash with Kashubian rural culture. Julia Sarman, played by Marianna Zydek, gives a local view and heightens tension between outsiders and insiders during the investigation.
Forests of Kashubia: Setting and Symbolism
One of the film’s boldest choices is its new setting. Action leaves the city, moving deep into rural Kashubia, where nature takes over. The woods are not just background — they stand for secrets and hidden rot choking the land. Scenes with evidence searches or late-night stakeouts show that cruelty can lurk anywhere. This shift to wild places creates a more closed-in feeling than before, despite the bigger landscape. Leisurebyte claims these choices pull viewers into dread. Every new find exposes another sick layer in the town. The film’s colors stay gray and green, always underscoring the sadness hanging over the region. Each step into the woods feels tense, as if danger hides in everything unknown.
Brutality and Realism in Crime Depiction
Heavenofhorror calls ‘Colors of Evil: Black’ one of the most violent Netflix crime films of the year.
Narrative Expansion and Series Continuity
Personal stakes now link to larger historic and cultural wounds. ‘Colors of Evil: Black’ does not copy the last plot but gives viewers a fresh case with scars of its own. Choices made by characters matter far beyond guilt or innocence. They touch on shame and issues left unsolved for years. Mixing returning cast with new faces—like Beata Ścibakówna and Adam Bobik—keeps the sequel away from tired formulas. With two entries out now and talk of a third, the series grows into a trilogy known for its tough realism. Leisurebyte says the filmmakers purposely keep the series’ ending unclear, reflecting how real cases and Polish history are never so easily solved.
The Adaption Process: From Novel to Netflix
This sequel adapts the book Kolory Zła: Czerń, fitting Netflix’s strategy to use global crime novels. Heavenofhorror shares that Panek’s film stays true to the book’s feeling, if not every detail. Main story points and character arcs get adjusted for visual storytelling, while the core remains about trauma, secrets, and delayed justice. Small pacing hiccups happen switching to the screen. Leisurebyte thinks film makes hard events feel more direct and immediate. With this sequel, Netflix raises Polish TV’s global profile and brings new attention to the country’s dark fiction.
This latest entry does not change the crime genre, Leisurebyte explains. Still, careful handling of violence, flawed justice, and community stands out from others in the field. Clear answers or clean moral lessons are avoided. Instead, the film embraces uncertainty, forcing viewers to feel what its characters experience. Such an approach breaks from normal crime stories, placing it with a new group of European dramas that value honest emotion above strict rules. Successful adaptations like ‘Colors of Evil: Black’ bring wider interest to Polish film, sitting alongside powerful Netflix movies like ‘Mexico 86’ in 2026. Crime fans who want complex stories instead of simple answers will find a haunting, memorable addition in this film.
The film is about 110 minutes long and holds an 80% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though this is based on only five reviews.