Bogdan kills Tony and Gianni (who doesn’t exist in the film) as a calculated and clever revenge for killing his friend. The narrative presents this sympathetically.

Crucially, the book shows this was done out of love and loyalty - a key theme in the book. This echoes Penny & John’s motives, and is also present through every characters’ arc. The theme of the book is love and what it can drive people to - every single murder was done out of a sense of love.

In the book, Bogdan is also meant to look intimidating, he is muscled, clean-shaven, covered in tattoos, and has dabbled in organised crime to a certain extent. He looks like a stereotypical brute (albeit attractive)- but he is very smart, on level with Elizabeth.

Henry Lloyd-Hughes is attractive in a softer, much more endearing way. He does not look like a brute. There is something lost to the character by casting him this way - it reduces the sense of appearance not dictating who someone is.

Moreover, in the film, he is not presented as being incredibly intelligent. He doesn’t seem particularly skilled at reading people or situations, and his skill at chess seems downplayed. In the book he used his intelligence to kill two people and not get caught. In the film, he accidentally kills one person - a person who has tricked him into slavery.

Which is another key issue I have with the film vs the book. The film, though it doesn’t say it in so many words, has Bogdan trapped in modern day slavery. This is not necessarily a bad change - as motivation for murder, it is an easier one to justify to an audience than revenge.

But, the film doesn’t seem willing to handle the darkness of a human trafficking storyline or delve into what that means. Instead, it feels like the change from “Polish immigrant who choose to come to England and looks scary and has been involved with the drug trade but is very intelligent with a good heart” to “Polish immigrant trafficked into England who wants to go home and looks friendly but is over his head” is done in an attempt to appease an anti-immigrant English audience.

Especially as the narrative of the film doesn’t seem to justify Bogdan’s actions. In the book, we find out the truth, but Bogdan doesn’t experience any in world consequences, and the characters who figure it out accept it without taking further action. We are clearly meant to side with Bogdan and feel sympathy for him. In comparison with John’s actions, which the narrative does portray as wrong.

In the film, the narrative condemns Bogdan for these actions. The film even portrays Bogdan as a potential threat, right up until the end when he is arrested. We don’t even see the aftermath. As far as the narrative is concerned, he did a crime, he is arrested, that’s the end of his story. Even when in this version he’s attempting to escape slavery.

It feels that they changed things to ensure that he would look more likeable, and be more “acceptable” to certain audiences, but that the narrative still didn’t treat him with sympathy for these actions, or justify them. Which has worrying implications.

He’s relationships with other characters are also non existent now - and he’s role in future films are now questionable - which is also concerning.