Writer-director Patryk Nizioł’s Numbers (Liczby), written by , is a sharp, unsettling short that lingers like a riddle whispered in a dream, familiar, but just out of reach. Running at a lean and focused pace, the film weaves a minimalist narrative around obsession, isolation, and the strange comfort of patterns. It is Kafka through Kieślowski, with a touch of Pi-era Aronofsky thrown in for good measure.
The story centers on a solitary man (Maciej Niemirowicz) consumed by numbers. He lives a rigid, repetitive life, tracking digits, looking for meaning, surrendering to the illusion that if he can only crack the code, something greater will be revealed.
A chilling shot from Numbers (Liczby), depicting a masked figure whose presence adds to the film’s eerie atmosphere.
“…a solitary man consumed by numbers.”
Nizioł doesn’t spell out the plot so much as imply it through rhythm, imagery, and implication. There’s very little dialogue, and the narrative is all the better for it. The silence allows the sound design — clicking pens, ticking clocks, and the scratch of paper — to become its own score, tightening the psychological grip. What stands out about this short is its restraint. Nizioł builds tension through accumulation, letting the strangeness grow naturally.
Visually, Numbers (Liczby) is stark and precise. The camera is cold and observant, mirroring the protagonist’s clinical mindset, while the cycling visual palette amplifies the sense of mental confinement and distortion. This is a cerebral, haunting film that never tries to impress with volume, but rather with precision. It’s a quiet shock to the system that stays with you.
"…a quiet shock to the system that stays with you."
