Feedback (2023), or Informacja zwrotna is a Polish drama series about an alcoholic father who wakes up with no memories of the previous night and begins a frantic search for his son. The series is streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary:
Marcin Kania wakes up on the floor of his son’s apartment with blood dripping down his face. He has no memory of the night before except for meeting his son, Piotr.
When his wife Asia and daughter Ula wonder where he is and call the police because he isn’t answering his phone. Marcin mentions that he met Piotr for dinner but doesn’t remember what went down.
Marcin is a recovering alcoholic and he goes to his regular group to jog his memory. He states that he was 2 years sober before falling off the wagon that night and is desperate to try and remember so that he can find his son.
The detective in charge of the case, Cezary, tells the family that since it is still early they cannot assume anything and will do their best to find him. Marcin recognizes Cezary from an AA meeting years ago and mentions something he remembered.
He says that he saw Piotr being picked up by some men after dinner and he followed them out to the subway where he was beaten up by the thugs in masks. He begins retracing his steps to possibly remember more from that night.
In the past, Marcin was part of a successful band and lived the rockstar life which contributed to his alcoholism. Piotr was a genius with computers ever since he was a child and he got a job in IT in his adulthood.
As Marcin investigates further into Piotr’s life, he learns that there was more about his son that he chose not to share with his family. Piotr’s wife, Kinga, believed that he was cheating on her but Marcin flat-out denied that.
He was certain that Piotr was kidnapped and he constantly pestered Cezary about following that lead. During Piotr’s childhood, Marcin spent a lot of time drinking and was barely present for his family.
He invested in some apartments under the suggestion of his former bandmate Zbyszek. He gifted one of them to Piotr when he got older but their relationship remained frosty.
When Marcin was involved in a car accident that put one of his best friends in a wheelchair, Marcin decided to go to meetings and get sober for good.
With some help from Jadzia, a member of his AA group, and Cezary, Marcin learns that Piotr got involved with Ewa and the tenants association who were fighting against the reprivatization of government-sponsored housing in Warsaw.
Jadzia and Marcin were attacked by the same goons that he saw kidnapping Piotr because they were digging in places they weren’t supposed to.
Piotr was actually hired by Zbyszek to infiltrate the tenant’s association under the pretense of helping them with their computer stuff so that he can find out what information they have and turn it over to Zbyszek and his boss, Stawek Kurzyna.
Stawek ran Gigaplex, a builder who illegally acquired some of the flats in a reprivatization scheme and sold them to Marcin back when he was still drinking. When Piotr learns what happened to the former tenant of his flat, he decides to help Ewa.
Marcin continues to follow this lead even after they find Piotr’s body in the woods with all signs pointing to suicide by hanging. Marcin goes to the house of one of the people connected to Gigaplex and threatens them, so Stawek has him picked up and taken somewhere.
Feedback (2023) ending explained in detail:
What does Marcin find out?
Stawek forces Marcin to have a few drinks with him and tells him all about his dealings with Piotr. When Piotr found out about the activities of Gigaplex, he decided to record their conversations.
He tried to share this with Ewa but she found out that he was working with Zbyszek and kicked him out. Stawek’s men threatened him and Stawek cut Zbyszek loose as punishment.
Marcin is dropped off at his wife’s place in a drunken state and she helps him in. When he wakes up the next morning, he remembers that Zbyzsek is the man responsible for his son’s death.
What is the truth?
Marcin heads over to Zbyzsek’s house to hurt him but Cezary calls him up to say that they located Piotr’s phone and he needs to come in immediately.
He heads to the police station to listen to a message that Piotr left for him, and it is a detailed description of the last night they spent together. He explains how his abuse and years of neglect led to Piotr’s disturbed mental state.
This was compounded by the rejection from Ewa and everything else that he was going through. Marcin arrived for their dinner drunk and had been lying about his sobriety with his group.
What does Marcin do?
The first thing Marcin chooses to do is drown his sorrows in alcohol as all the memories come back to him. None of the events that he remembered were true and he was the one who hurt Jadzia.
He altered his memories to soothe his conscience and he continued to suffer from his alcoholism. He goes back home and passes out, and his daughter wakes him up the next day.
He grabs a bottle and looks at it before putting it away. He cleans up his entire room of all the mess and then goes to the private group where he admits the truth.
They vote on whether to keep him in the group, but for the first time in his life, Marcin is confident that he is on the right path to recovery.
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