Diksha Sundriyal
In Netflix’s ‘Hound’s Hill’ (originally titled ‘Wzgórze psów’), a successful writer comes back to his town to make peace with a murder that happened two decades ago. The story focuses on Mikolaj Glowacki, whose girlfriend Daria was brutally raped and killed, with the blame falling on her brother, Sebastian. As the only suspect in the case and not being able to defend himself due to his mental disability, Sebastian was accepted as the culprit. However, as Mikolaj knows, there is more to the story than meets the eye. He goes back to his hometown to dig out the whole truth, but what comes out reflects his own fallacies instead. Directed by Piotr Domalewski, the crime drama miniseries takes many twists and turns before it lands on the truth, which is shocking in a way that doesn’t seem too far removed from reality.
The Fictional Hound’s Hill Relies on Realism to Tell a Harrowing Story
As real as the characters and events in ‘Hound’s Hill’ may seem, it is not a true story. It is an adaptation of Jakub Zulczyk’s 2017 novel of the same name. It was penned for the screen by him and Piotr Domalewski. The book, which is well over 700 pages, gives a detailed account of Mikolaj’s life in his hometown of Zybork and how the murder of his girlfriend plays into his psyche and decides the course of his life. Interestingly, Zulczyk came up with the story from a dream he once had, and that, too, was about the ending rather than the beginning of the story.
One of the major things that the author wanted to incorporate in ‘Hound’s Hill’ was an element of the preternatural that adds a whole new dimension to the tale. This facet of the story was inspired by David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks,’ where a thin veil separates what’s real and unreal and makes things much more interesting. Just as the town of Twin Peaks becomes a character in itself, the author wanted Zybork to have the same impact on the story of ‘Hound’s Hill.’ His familiarity with Polish towns allowed him to create a detailed map of the fictional Zybork, giving it a haunting vibe that sustains through decades to remind the characters of the trauma surrounding them. At the same time, he also threaded realism into the story through the plotline of the corrupt and unjust officials who are hell-bent on ruining the town for their own monetary gains.
Jakub Zulczyk Sought Inspiration From His Own Life and Relationships
While Jakub Zulczyk’s dream gave him a tragic but compelling hook, he still needed to find the heart and soul of the story as well as the characters. For this, he had to come out of the dream realm and look towards reality. All the characters in the show, including Mikolaj Glowacki and Daria Maslowska, are fictional, but the author made them feel real by tapping into his own past. To keep his characters grounded and realistic, he turned towards his own upbringing in a small Polish town. He drew from the experiences he had during his childhood and youth and was inspired by the events of that time to concoct similar childhood memories for his protagonist. He also delved into the relationships he had in his own life and of people around him to give more depth and meaning to Mikolaj’s relationships, which become an important factor in the way things eventually play out.
Because it is a murder mystery, Zulczyk wanted to present a dark atmosphere in the town of Zybork, but at the same time, he also wanted the psyche of the characters to become an integral element. Most important of all, the author wanted to underline the conflict between the desire to be at home and away from home at the same time. Having grown up in a small town and leaving it to pursue his dreams, Zulczyk was well aware of the pull that home can have on a person who still has some unresolved issues. While there was no decades-old murder mystery waiting for him back in his town, he could see how a person could revert to their old ways in familiar surroundings, no matter how worse it may get for them. He explored the same thing with Mikolaj’s journey, especially in the context of his addiction, which allowed him to touch upon relevant themes that his audience could connect with despite it being an entirely made-up story.
Read More: Hound’s Hill Ending, Explained: Does Mikolaj Die?
