Four days were enough for “Johnny” to become an international Netflix hit. He’s chasing an Oscar winner

made a very successful debut on . The film not only became the most watched title in Poland, but also did well internationally. In the first four days of its presence on the platform, viewers from all over the world watched it for almost six million hours, which guaranteed the Polish production the sixth place among the most frequently selected non-English language films.

In just four days, “Johnny” became an international Netflix hit

Official Netflix data say that in addition to the first place in Poland, “Johnny” also made it to the TOP 10 list of the most popular films in 11 other countries: Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, Uruguay, Venezuela, Iceland, Italy, Malta, Ukraine and Slovakia. In turn, the Flixpatrol website also reports that the film directed by Daniel Jaroszek broke into the TOP 10 in 44 countries. It was particularly popular in Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Paraguay, El Salvador, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, Uruguay and Venezuela – there he ranked in the top five.

‘Johnny’ is a global Netflix hit

Recall that “Johnny” was the second highest-grossing Polish film in 2022 – it attracted 990,000 cinemas. viewers. What’s more, it had its official premiere during the 47th Polish Film Festival. It also won four awards, including the one that is really the most important for filmmakers, because it is awarded by the audience. Honorable mentions also went to Marta Stalmierska (for the main male role) (here she was the leader in the acting debut category, also thanks to the film “Apokawixa”). Playing the role of priest Kaczkowski, he received the Golden Kangaroo – this is an award from Australian film distributors. In addition, “Johnny” was awarded three Eagles – for the best supporting female role (Maria Pakulnis), the best make-up (Liliana Gałązka) and the Audience Award.

Patryk Galewski, who was friends with Father Kaczkowski and inspired the script, emphasized in an interview with Gazeta.pl: – The people who created this film did more than just shoot another order. In turn, the producer of the film, Robert Kijak, recalled: – We felt that we were guided by Jan’s spirit all the time: we had several such signs. Even an episode, except that in the first selection we did not qualify for the film festival in Gdynia, which was not accepted by us with understanding. A week later, exactly on the priest’s birthday, it turned out that we were in the selection after all – it’s the little things that give joy. And we won the audience award!

What is the movie “Johnny” about?

Father Jan Kaczkowski was an extraordinary person: he broke stereotypes, ran a vlog, wrote extremely popular books, founded a home hospice in Puck and above all – he helped people. He died prematurely in March 2016 after a long cancer disease. The film’s director, Daniel Jaroszek, explains in an interview with Gazeta.pl that despite the sad script written by life, his film story has a much more positive connotation.

Directed by Jaroszek’s feature debut, “Johnny” is a story based on true events. It was told from the perspective of Father Jan Kaczkowski’s ward, Patryk Galewski, who did not have an easy start in life. This is the description of the movie:

After he broke into a house in a small town, he was caught by the police. By court order, he must do community service at the hospice in Puck. It is there that he meets an extraordinary priest. Kaczkowski engages young boys from the vocational school, seemingly rebellious and insensitive rebels, in helping the terminally ill residents of the center. He surprises them with the fact that at work he focuses on closeness and tenderness, how he fights to establish a relationship with another human being. He teaches his pupils empathy. And he does it with great humor, which wins people’s hearts and gains great popularity. Shortly after Patryk (played by Piotr Trojan) comes under his wing, Jan finds out himself that he has fallen ill. Patryk doesn’t know yet that his whole life will change soon.