The Doll
A six-episode Polish limited series reimagining Bolesław Prus's Lalka around Stanisław Wokulski's social ambition, Izabela Łęcka's struggle for autonomy and the class divisions of nineteenth-century Warsaw.
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Our review
The Doll: A Lavish Reimagining That Puts Izabela at the Center
The Doll works best when it shifts the balance of its central relationship: Izabela is no longer merely the unreachable object of Wokulski's obsession but a protagonist trapped inside a different set of social transactions. The result is handsome, ambitious and strongly acted, even if uneven pacing and an overloaded narrative keep every one of its ideas from landing with equal force.
PROS
Sandra Drzymalska and Tomasz Schuchardt give Izabela and Wokulski convincing contradictions.
Recentring Izabela provides the adaptation with its most compelling perspective.
Production design, costumes and cinematography make the class divide physically tangible.
CONS
Six episodes have to carry too many threads, from romance to family secrets and financial intrigue.
The pacing is uneven, moving from genuinely gripping passages to stretches that lose momentum.