Netflix's investment in a major Polish original series, Heweliusz, has resulted in a disappointing performance across Central and Eastern Europe. An analysis of Netflix's own weekly Top 10 charts reveals that the historical disaster thriller has failed to capture a significant audience in the very region it was likely designed to attract.

The show, which is a fictionalized account of the investigation into the sinking of the MS Jan Heweliusz ferry in 1993, debuted on the platform in early November. Despite its mostly positive reception, critical acclaim and promotional interviews, however, it barely registered on the official most-watched lists. In its first week (November 3-9), Heweliusz only managed to chart in eight out of the sixteen CEE countries where Netflix publishes data. Its performance was weak even then, appearing at number 10 in Croatia and failing to crack the top five in any market except for a number 5 placement in Czechia and Slovakia. In its home country of Poland, the series reached the number 1 spot, as expected.

The following week (November 10-16) saw a dramatic collapse in viewership. The show vanished from the charts in most countries, including Croatia, Hungary, Turkey, and Ukraine. Its presence was reduced to just four territories: Czechia (7), Greece (9), Slovakia (6), and Poland (1).

By the third week (November 17-23), any momentum had completely evaporated. Heweliusz disappeared from the Top 10 in every single country except Poland, where it clung to the number 2 position. For the vast majority of the CEE region, including neighboring countries like Romania, the Baltic states, and the Balkans, the series was a non-presence from the start, consistently failing to appear on the charts at all.

The performance data indicates a clear failure to resonate with a broad regional audience which should be particularly worrying for such a high budget production. Despite Netflix's push to produce Polish content that can travel across borders, Heweliusz was unable to generate sustained interest even in culturally and geographically close markets. The series joins a growing list of local productions that, despite significant backing, struggle to find an audience beyond their country of origin, raising questions about the recipe for a Polish-centric streaming success in the region. Netflix's recently appointed CEE chief has noted on several occasions that the streamer does not plan to produce original content outside of Poland where it has set up its regional hub but persistently talks about a “CEE” strategy.

In the past Netflix enjoyed international success with some of its Polish titles, including in some CEE territories, namely High Water (which comes from the creative team behind Heweliusz), Sexify and the movie Znachor (Forgotten Love). Its refusal to introduce localization in many CEE territories, the lack of PR and marketing efforts outside of Poland and the assumption that Polish content will travel to other CEE territories so no original content is needed, however, has been raising quite a few eyebrows.