WATCH: This Polish comedy follows an older gay man’s quest for twinks & drinks… and an unexpected health scare

In the Polish dark comedy series The Stroke, middle-aged Jacek Trocki (Jacek Poniedziałek) has the kind of life most gays dream of: He’s single, successful, and has an established career as a TV presenter & food critic.

In other words, Jacek gets paid to share his b*tchy hot takes to thousands of fans who revere him as a cultural taste-maker. And when he’s not working, he mostly spends his free time drinking while flirting with the cute bartenders.

How about we take this to the next level?

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Sounds pretty fabulous, yeah? Well, of course it does! But, eventually, that kind of hedonistic life is going to catch up to you…

An original series from acclaimed Polish playwright Paweł Demirski, The Stroke takes its provocative title not from Jacek’s favorite activity to partake in with his younger male lovers (though there is plenty of that), but rather the medical condition that stopes him in his tracks, throwing his lifestyle of the rich & fabulous way of course.

His fans and colleagues call him “the fat man,” and it’s not because he’s especially large, though he sure does live large—and the endless succession of carbs & fats he ingests for the job certainly don’t help. Neither does the drinking.

That’s what leads to the stroke that causes him to question everything: What is he doing with his life? What does he want his legacy to be? And, now that he’s achieved all of his career goals, he’s sort of just spinning his wheels and running out of steam, so: what’s next?

A biting satire of the class of media personalities our culture has turned into superstars, The Stroke finds its dramatic heft in the ways Jacek’s health scare has a domino effect on the many people in his orbit.

There’s his co-host Marta (Marta Malikowska), who was just about to take her family—including her trans daughter—on a lengthy, overdue vacation to Thailand, which gets derailed so she can take care of Jacek, quickly coming to realize she may be the closest thing he has to family.

Then there’s his traditionalist older parents (played by icons of Polish cinema legends Anna Seniuk & Jerzy Bonczak), who’ve been out of the picture for quite some time, and are shocked to discover the rather chaotic, messy life their son has made for himself.

And of course there’s the endless parade of lovers—twinks who used to throw themselves at Jacek for a taste of his well-to-do lifestyle, at least for a night. Post-stroke, he’s finding that well of male attention drying up, and starting to wonder if maybe he should’ve settled down by now.

By centering on the trials & tribulations of an older gay man, The Stroke already feels rare enough as a spotlight on a certain demographic typically pretty invisible in media.

But this story is especially rare in Poland, where queer identity “remains politically and socially contested.” In fact, it’s one of the least progressive countries in Europe as far as LGBTQ+ rights & protections go—same-sex marriages aren’t even legalized, and there is a lack of legislation covering discrimination or hate crimes.

In that sense, The Stroke is a fresh important with a new perspective on life & a sharp sense of humor that’s well worth a watch, no matter where in the world you are.

After premiering in its native Poland back in 2024, the series is now available in the U.K. & will begin streaming in the U.S. on March 12 via Viaplay US, the leading global streamer for Nordic, Scandinavian & Eastern European programming. Check out the international trailer below:

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