In Polish with subtitles.
This movie caught my eye on Netflix. Curious, I decided to watch it. Noticing also that it did not have an IMDB review, I wanted to "take one for the team" and write one. Warning: This review has spoilers. I normally avoid writing spoilers, but in this case, I could not imagine revealing only part of the story without exposing the ending.
The title, Spiral, refers to the spiraling down of depression. That is at least my interpretation.
Part I
The events start in the snowy mountains. The scenery is both beautiful and gloomy. The lone protagonist (Tomasz Piatek, played by Jan Nowicki) drives his car to a desolate parking lot and silently tosses his keys away. He is obviously not returning. He then hikes up to a large wooden lodge of hikers. They are festive and Tomasz mingles, engaging them with bizarre conversations about life's meaning and our human fear of death. They are friendly and tolerate his quirks, even though he is prone to weird outbursts and inappropriate advances. One woman especially, Maria played by Zofia Kucowna, repeated turns him down. Tomasz has no climbing gear and did not even reserve a bedroom. He wanders around, bothering the guests, until he retires to the dining area. Everyone goes to sleep. Lights off.
Part II
The bright morning reveals that Tomasz left early to hike alone and took little protection from the elements with him. A few hikers form a search party and go looking for him. People ask each other who knew 'this strange guest' the best, and it appears that nobody did. Someone decides to check the parking lot to see if Tomasz had maybe left instead, though there is uncertainly as to which car belongs to him. They confirm his car is there.
A search party climber suffers a minor accident during a steep climb which forces the folks waiting in the lodge to summon a helicopter instead. The search party gradually comes back down as the helicopter flies around the area looking for any signs. And they find him! Tomasz is sitting near one of the peeks in a squatting position to keep warm. The helicopter lands and the crew determine that Tomasz has frostbite. They place him on a gurney and fly off. The folks at the lodge are relieved that Tomasz was found before freezing to death.
Part III
Several weeks have passed and we are viewing the confines of a sanitarium. The head psychiatrist, played by Alezsander Bardini, explains to a classroom full of students how Tomasz had a seemingly full life but was unable to enjoy it and that is why he tried to kill himself. Tomasz now spends his days in bed or walking around the facility wearing his hospital pajamas. His right hand is fully covered with a large bandage.
The woman at the lodge, Maria, visits Tomasz to see how he's doing. Strangely, he seems angry with her. He is also despondent that the doctors could not save his right hand. He shares his hospital room with another patient who complains that Tomasz has received preferential treatment. After all, how much did the helicopter flight cost used in the rescue? The roommate complains a lot.
Maria consults with the psychiatrist telling him that she intends to visit every day. She asks how long Tomasz has got left, and the psychiatrist answers with a few more days. Maria intends to visit each day that she can, much and all as it seems there is no point.
Tomasz is walking down a hallway and passes the morgue. He sees that the fresh corpse on the table is the complaining roommate. The orderly shouts at Tomasz to leave, who then goes outside to cry. The following day, he opens a large window on the second floor and climbs onto the sill. He removes his bandage exposing a red hand and then falls to his death.
In the final scene, we have Tomasz's lifeless body viewed from above as people run out of the sanitarium to find him. They are in shock.
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