Upiór tells the story of a Polish official visiting an Orthodox church that is to be demolished as part of the Recovery Action carried out in 1938. There he encounters an Upiór, a mythological figure from the periphery of Polish-Ukrainian culture. The Upiór is suspended between life and death, therefore not adhering to the rules of time and space. He reveals to the clerk fragments of various stories, built upon narratives of violence, hope, identity and memory.
The style of the film is characteristic of German Expressionist cinema. Highly dramatic acting, demonic archetypes and vivid imagery are all present in this work. The cinematography of expressionism that came to fruition during the First World War and breaking with the realistic way of recreating reality, expressed a common fear of omnipresent violence and tyranny. Immersed in the traditions of folk beliefs, filled with oneiric mood, the film by Mikołaj Sobczak presents completely real, documented fragments of the biography of real people - Upiórs.