Fuga (2018)

The film opens with a scene at Warsaw Central Station, where a woman in a dirty, light-colored coat (Gabriela Muskała) climbs from the railway tracks onto the platform and, to the horror of people waiting for a train, urinates. The rest of the film takes place two years later. The woman, who has been given the name Alicja, receives medical care (her case is handled by psychiatrist Michał (Piotr Skiba)), and is then brought onto a television program modeled on “Have You Seen This Person?” Alicja suffers from dissociative fugue: she cannot remember her own past, does not know who she really is, and the only thing she can say about herself is that she has spent the last two years in Warsaw. When her situation is presented on the live broadcast, an older man (Zbigniew Waleryś) calls the studio, claiming to be Alicja’s father. He explains that her real name is Kinga Słowik and that before she disappeared, she lived near Wrocław with her husband, Krzysztof, and their son, Daniel. Alicja returns to her parents’ home, where she meets many members of her family but recognizes no one. She is unhappy about being forced to return to these strangers—she admits to Michał that she would rather go to prison. She speaks to her relatives and husband in an almost aggressive manner. She refuses to accept her old name and introduces herself as Alicja. After visiting her parents, Alicja moves into the house where she previously lived with her husband and child. She does not plan to stay for long, but she has no identity card, and getting one is expected to take three weeks. She gradually gets used to her new surroundings, her relationship with her son improves, and, at least seemingly, so does her relationship with Krzysztof. She meets her husband’s new partner, Ewa (Małgorzata Buczkowska), with whom, it turns out, she worked at the same high school, but she shows no jealousy. Alicja’s mental state, however, remains unstable. When the family is driving and they narrowly avoid an accident, she panics, gets out of the car, and runs into the forest. Later, reflecting on the incident, she concludes that she must have lost her memory after a car accident. She tries to share these thoughts with Michał, but Krzysztof answers her phone. Some time later, Alicja demands that her husband tell her about the circumstances of her disappearance. He gives in and shows her the place where, in fact, two years earlier, she and Daniel were involved in a car accident, and where a gravestone bearing the name Kinga was later erected. A few days later, Alicja leaves the house.