1983

Twenty years after a devastating terrorist attack in 1983 that halted the course of Poland's liberation and the subsequent downfall of the Soviet Union, an idealistic law student Kajetan and a disgraced police investigator Anatol stumble upon a conspiracy that has kept the Iron Curtain standing and Poland living under a repressive police state.

1983 (2018) is a Polish alternate history neo-noir miniseries created by Joshua Long and Maciej Musiał for Netflix. Robert Więckiewicz plays Anatol Janów, a disgraced police investigator, who teams up with idealistic law student Kajetan Skowron (Maciej Musiał) after the two stumble onto a secret conspiracy. Their investigation carries them through a Poland that is still trapped in a repressive police state two decades after a terrorist attack in 1983 failed to halt the country's liberation and the collapse of the Soviet Union. The engine of the story is a pair of outsiders chasing evidence through surveillance, bureaucratic cover-ups and dangerous contacts, where every lead threatens to expose them to the same authorities they are trying to challenge. Told across a single eight-episode season of about an hour each, the series builds a dense, paranoid atmosphere of rain-soaked streets, muted interiors and mounting dread. Its tone is grim and morally weighted, a reminder of the costs of living under a state that controls memory and truth. Fans of The Man in the High Castle, Chernobyl and True Detective will find resonance in its counterfactual setting, its noir sensibility and its patient unravelling of a system built on lies.

Audiences rate the miniseries as mixed, admiring its alternate history premise and noir atmosphere while finding the conspiracy plot dense.

• The Man in the High Castleshared alternate history premise with a repressive state and dark conspiracy, neo-noir tones
• Chernobylshared Cold War era Eastern bloc police state paranoia and procedural investigation
• True Detectiveshared neo-noir investigative tone with a disgraced investigator uncovering a corrupt system
• The Americansshared Soviet-era Eastern bloc setting and state surveillance paranoia

Created by

Joshua Long, Maciej Musiał

Release Date

2018-11-30

Episode runtime

60 min

Rating

6.7 / 10 (72)

What is 1983 about?

Twenty years after a 1983 terrorist attack failed to end Soviet control, an idealistic law student and a disgraced investigator uncover a conspiracy holding Poland in a police state.

What is 1983 like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of 1983 as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as dense.

Is 1983 violent?

Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in 1983 as moderate.

What did critics think of 1983?

Audiences rate the miniseries as mixed, admiring its alternate history premise and noir atmosphere while finding the conspiracy plot dense.

Which shows are like 1983?

Shows with a similar feel include The Man in the High Castle, Chernobyl, True Detective, and The Americans.

How long is 1983?

1983: 1 season, 8 episodes.

Is 1983 still running?

No, 1983 has ended.

Where can I watch 1983?

In United States, 1983 streams on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads.