Netflix orders drama inspired by one of Poland’s most notorious criminal scandals

Netflix has ordered a psychological thriller inspired by one of Poland’s most notorious criminal scandals, with Fremantle producing.

Jan Holoubek

Photo: Krzysztof Wiktor via CC

Stiffs (Skóry) comes from filmmakers Jan Holoubek and Kasper Bajon (High Water, Heweliusz). It centres on the “Skin Hunters” case, which shocked Poland in the early 2000s.

In 2002, an investigative report revealed that Łódź ambulance service employees had been selling information about patients’ deaths to funeral homes. Over time, an even more horrifying truth emerged: instead of saving lives, some of them had deliberately caused patients to die.

Tomasz Patora, author of the nonfiction book Skin Hunters: Secrets of the Crimes at the Łódź Ambulance Service, was a consultant during the development of the scripts.

Although the series is inspired by true events, it remains a work of fiction and the creators’ own interpretation, not a journalistic reconstruction of the case, Netflix said.

At the heart of the six-episode series is Bundzior, a fictional character created for the story. After leaving prison, he takes a job with the Łódź ambulance service. There, he uncovers an illegal trade in information about patients’ deaths and a scheme involving the deliberate killing of patients. Drawn into a web of corruption and ruthless dealings, he must decide whether to continue profiting from the operation or risk everything to expose the truth.

Filming with Fremantle Polska is now underway in Łódź, Warsaw and across Silesia. The producers are Julita Brutus, Maria Gołoś and Monika Matuszewska. The writers are Kasper Bajon, Kinga Krzemińska, Łukasz Czapski and Ksawery Bajon. It is set to premiere in 2028.