HBO Max premieres "Wśród nocnej ciszy", a drama about the 1976 Połaniec murders

In brief

• HBO Max premiered on 13 November 2026 the six-part drama "Wśród nocnej ciszy", directed by Jan Holoubek.
• The series is inspired by a 1976 Christmas Eve crime in Połaniec in which three people were found dead.
• The screenplay is based on Wiesław Łuka's reportage "Nie oświadczam się".

A crime from the Christmas Eve Mass

The series is set during the midnight Mass held in Połaniec, in the Świętokrzyskie region, in the night of 24 to 25 December 1976 (Mord po pasterce. Tak wyglądały szczegóły zbrodni połanieckiej – Wirtualna Polska). Villagers from nearby Zrębin had travelled to the church by bus (Trzy martwe ciała i wieś, która milczała. Serial "Wśród nocnej ciszy" przypomina szokujące wydarzenia z lat 70. – ludzie.fakt.pl). After the service, one of the vehicles failed to return to the meeting point, and later three bodies were found by the road: 18-year-old Krystyna, who was five months pregnant, her 25-year-old husband Stanisław, and her 12-year-old brother Mieczysław.

Source material and production

The screenplay by Maciej Kowalewski is based on the reportage "Nie oświadczam się" by Wiesław Łuka (W sierpniu w kinach, a od dziś na twoim Smart TV. W streamingu też nowy serial Holoubka – ANDROID.COM.PL) (Polski kryminał o szokującej zbrodni z czasów PRL. Jest pierwszy odcinek serialu – Dziennik.pl). Jan Holoubek, whose earlier works include "Heweliusz" and "25 lat niewinności. Sprawa Tomka Komendy", directs. Parts of the shooting took place in a village in Podlasie, which stood in for Zrębin.

Cast and reception

Łukasz Simlat, Jędrzej Hycnar, Magdalena Biegańska, Justyna Wasilewska, Tomasz Schuchardt and Adam Woronowicz are among the actors named in the production (Serial "Wśród nocnej ciszy". Okrutna zbrodnia po pasterce z 1976 – rozrywka.o2.pl). Critics have focused on the portrayal of a community that stayed silent despite knowing about the crime, and on the role of young Stasio, who spoke the truth to investigators (Cała wieś milczała, choć wiedziała o zbrodni. Jan Holoubek wraca do jednej z najmroczniejszych historii PRL-u. Recenzja serialu „Wśród nocnej ciszy” HBO – Zwierciadło).

Where to watch

The six episodes are available on HBO Max, and the first episode went live on 13 November 2026 ("Wśród nocnej ciszy" od dziś w HBO Max. "Najlepszy polski serial tego roku" – Wirtualnemedia.pl).