ABCCINEMAS

“Wielka Warszawska” (The Great Warsaw Race) premiered in Polish cinemas on January 23, 2026. It serves as the long-awaited final chapter of an informal “shady games” trilogy written by Jan Purzyczyk — following the cult classics “Wielki Szu” (Big Shoot, 1985) and “Piłkarski poker” (Soccer Poker, 1989). The story follows a young, talented jockey named Krzysiek, who dreams of winning Poland’s most prestigious horse race — Wielka Warszawska (The Great Warsaw Race), held at Służewiec Racecourse. Full of passion and idealism, he enters the closed world of horse racing as a complete novice. Very quickly he discovers that this beautiful sport is controlled by a dense network of arrangements, corruption, big money, and mafia influence. The early 1990s — the chaotic time of Poland’s transformation after the fall of communism — only amplify the temptations: fast career, easy cash, and power. Krzysiek faces a classic moral dilemma: stay true to his pure love of racing or give in to the system that can make him a star overnight — but at the price of his integrity.