Stolen Transformation, Conspiracy Theories and Female Detectives in Contemporary East-Central European Films and Series

Abstract

The essay discusses the surging popularity of crime fiction as a reflection of the evolving social climate and the erosion of illusions regarding the post-socialist transformation in the 2010s Central Europe. It focuses on Entanglement (2011), a Polish paranoia thriller, X – The eXploited (2018), a Hungarian political thriller and Sleepers (2019), a Czech HBO production spy thriller series to examine how they portray symptoms of social and political crisis, perceived manipulation of the transition, and the struggle for female individual agency. These films offer a unique portrayal of the notion of a ‘stolen’ regime change, framed within conspiracy narratives suggesting the involvement of former state security personnel who managed to maintain their influence during the transition. Additionally, each narrative features a female protagonist who embarks on an investigation, uncovering a political conspiracy intertwined with her personal history. The fusion of conspiracy thriller elements with the emotional detective archetype represents a pivotal characteristic of these films, underscored by their transnational ambiguity. With the coupling of conspiracy narrative and female emotional detectives, paranoia and individual suffering, these films highlight the prevailing ­disillusionment and the sense of inaction that characterizes the contemporary social climate in the region.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal (project number 135235).

Notes on contributors

Balázs Varga

Balázs Varga is an Associate Professor of Film Studies at ELTE, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary. He writes and lectures on modern and contemporary Hungarian cinema, contemporary European cinema, production studies, popular cinemas and documentaries. He is a founding editor of Metropolis, a scholarly journal on film theory and history based in Budapest. He has published several articles and essays in English, Italian, Polish, Czech and Hungarian books and journals. His book in Hungarian Filmrendszerváltások. A magyar játékfilm intézményeinek átalakulása 1990–2010 [Film regime changes. Transformations in Hungarian Film Industry 1990–2010] is brought out by L’Harmattan Publishers, Budapest. His current project focuses on popular Hungarian and East European screen cultures during and after socialism.