In post-World War IIPoland, director and composer Wiktor, manager Kaczmarek, and choreographer Irena are holding auditions for a state-sponsored folk music ensemble. Wiktor's attention is immediately captured by Zula, an ambitious and captivating young woman who is faking a peasant identity and is on probation after attacking her abusive father. Wiktor and Zula quickly develop a strong, obsessive attraction and have sex after a performance. Wiktor and Irena are pressured by bureaucrats to include pro-Communist and pro-Stalinist propaganda in their performances—in exchange, the troupe would be allowed to tour theEastern Bloc. Wiktor and Irena oppose this, but the career-driven, opportunistic Kaczmarek agrees, and a resentful Irena quits. Kaczmarek is also interested in Zula and pressures her into spying on Wiktor for him, but Zula does not reveal any incriminating information. When the ensemble visitsEast Berlin, Wiktor plans toflee to the West with Zula, and the two affirm their love and passion. Zula fails to come to the rendezvous with Wiktor, and he crosses theborder alone.
Years later, Zula meets Wiktor inParis, where he is working at a jazz club. They both have other partners, but their continued mutual attraction is clear. When Wiktor asks Zula why she failed to appear with him to cross the border, she says that she lacked confidence in herself. A year later, Wiktor attends one of the troupe's performances inYugoslavia, where Zula spots him in the audience and becomes visibly shaken. Two years later, Wiktor is working as a film score composer in Paris, where Zula reunites with him. She has married another man to obtain a visa so that she could travel to Paris and be with Wiktor. Wiktor attempts to build a singing career for Zula. He embellishes her backstory to make her more interesting to film producer Michel, which annoys Zula. Zula becomes jealous of Wiktor's past lovers, and as work on her record strains their relationship, she begins to drink heavily and misbehave in public. Wiktor and Zula finish Zula's record, but a disappointed Zula remains frustrated and unhappy. She reveals that she had an affair with Michel and insults Wiktor, and he strikes her. She later disappears, and Wiktor confronts Michel, who states she has returned to Poland.
Against the advice of a Polish embassy official in Paris, Wiktor returns to Poland. Zula meets with him at a work camp, where he reveals that he has been sentenced to a "generous" 15 years of hard labor on charges of defecting and espionage; his hand is visibly disfigured. Zula bribes a guard for time alone with him, and promises to free him. Five years later, a freed Wiktor meets with Kaczmarek at a club where Zula, now a barely-functioning alcoholic, is performing. Zula arranged for an early release for Wiktor by agreeing to marry Kaczmarek, and now has a 4 year old son; Kaczmarek is unsure his son looks like him. Wiktor and Zula escape to a bathroom together, where a miserable and defeated Zula begs Wiktor to rescue her. The two take a bus to an abandoned church seen at the beginning of the film, where they exchange marriage vows and seemingly prepare to commit suicide together. After ingesting pills, the couple is seen sitting outside, observing the landscape. Zula suggests they view it "from the other side," and the two stand and depart from view, as wheat fields sway in the wind.
Cold War grossed $4.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $20.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $25 million.[6]
In the film's opening weekend in the United States it made $54,353 from three theaters, an average of $18,118 per venue.[8] In its sixth weekend of release, following its three Oscar nominations, the film made $571,650 from 111 theaters.[9]
Onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds anapproval rating of 92% based on 255 reviews, and an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With a brilliantly stark visual aesthetic to match its lean narrative,Cold War doesn't waste a moment of its brief running time — and doesn't skimp on its bittersweet emotional impact."[10]Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 90 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[11]
Giuseppe Sedia of theKrakow Post wrote, "...less hieratic thanIda,Cold War has a lot to offer to the audience. Maybe Pawlikowski would have not won Best Director Award at Cannes if it wasn't for the sumptuous acting displayed in this cruel, jazz-drenched andMizoguchi-esque tale of two lovers".[12] Writing inThe Guardian, Peter Bradshaw wrote that this is a "musically glorious and visually ravishing film" that "is about the dark heart of Poland itself".[13]
In 2025, it was one of the films voted for the "Readers' Choice" edition ofThe New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 295.[14]
In September 2023, it was announced thatCold War was to be adapted into amusical at theAlmeida Theatre in London. The new adaptation by writerConor McPherson and the Almeida’s artistic directorRupert Goold will feature music byElvis Costello as well as traditional Polish folk songs and choral works.[15]
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