A trio of disparate characters come together to re-form the Czech national para ice hockey team as Ostrava hosts the World Championships in 2019 in Invincibles (Neporazitelní), opening in Prague cinemas this weekend (and with English subtitles at Kino Pilotů). Despite a disjointed narrative that attempts to cram too much material into a two-hour feature, the heartfelt and nail-biting scenes at the climactic tournament are undeniably winning: this is truly inspirational stuff.
Loosely inspired by real-life events surrounding the 2019 Czech national para ice hockey team, Invincibles stars Hynek Čermák as Petr Fišer, a successful Prague business owner whose personal life is crumbling: son Patrik (Jan Dlouhý) has lost the use of his legs following a rare blood disorder, and wife Dana (Lenka Vlasáková) is about to leave him. At the urging of a marriage therapist, he turns to sport as a way of re-connecting with his son. But he doesn’t just enroll Patrik in para ice hockey—he gets involved with the Czech national team.
Only problem: the Czech Republic no longer has a national para ice hockey team, having been humiliated out of the World Championships some time in the past. Looking into re-forming it, Petr contacts the team’s former coach: Robert “Bob” Krulich (Ivan Trojan), a former player and recovering alcoholic who seems to be happy practicing tai chi in Ostrava. He also stumbles upon a potential new recruit: Radim Musil (Tomáš Havlínek), a former floorball player who lost a leg following a street attack.
As Petr invests all the money he can to cover the team’s expenses, Bob gets the old band back together: trainer Luděk (Jiří Lábus), assistant coach Jára (Ladislav Hampl), former captain Guma (Marek Holý), and all the old players. Radim struggles to fit in with the veterans but shows some promise on the ice, and with Luděk’s daughter Klára (Natalia Germani). And just when Petr thinks things are going well, Bob reveals that Ostrava will be hosting the next championships—putting further strain on his pocketbook.
Invincibles goes to unusual depth in detailing the financing, planning, and coordination that involves not only running a sports team, but hosting a major tournament. But these scenes work thanks to the fully-realized characterizations and committed central performances from Čermák and Trojan, who share a nice rapport that brings warmth and authenticity to the film, balancing the procedural elements with genuine human connection.
Still, all the setup that goes into showing us how this hockey team is formed means that we don’t get to our first hockey game until the 90-minute mark of this two-hour film. And scenes of the climactic tournament, as the Czech team makes its way through Slovakia and Norway to face the United States, are thrillingly depicted—one goal even received applause from the cinema audience—and the best thing that Invincibles has going for it. Real-life Czech hockey stars Patrik Eliáš, Jakub Voráček, and Jiří Šlégr briefly appear as themselves.
German actor Til Schweiger stars as Brian Sullivan, the mild-mannered coach of the U.S. team, while American Rob Easley, a real-life para ice hockey player who played for the Czech national team last year, is Doug Jones, the captain of the U.S. team. Schweiger’s American accent is less than convincing, but he shares a moving moment with Trojan, as does Easley with Havlínek. We want to see more of these characters, and while the film seems to know that (it opens with Jones’ backstory in Afghanistan), it doesn’t have room for them.
Invincibles was written by director Dan Pánek along with Martin Beinhauer, and they cram enough story for a miniseries into their two-hour narrative. Havlínek’s character, who has a compelling backstory, multiple love interests, and an easy-to-grasp arc, really should have been the primary focus here, but he has to share screen time with the coach and the financier.
Still, Invincibles soars when it gets to the ice. The tension of the tournament is sustained through rat-a-tat editing and sharp, intuitive camerawork from Jan Baset Střítežský, who captures both the physicality of para ice hockey and the emotional stakes riding on each play. The lengthy setup finally starts to pay off here on multiple levels as the on-ice action to carry the narrative weight that the film has been building toward.
What ultimately makes Invincibles land is how confidently it embraces its inspirational core. The film taps into themes of inner strength, second chances, and resilience—ideas that echo throughout the characters’ overlapping journeys. Trojan’s character talks about how the stories of the players attracted him to becoming their coach (and resolving his own issues), and while the story here is largely fictional, it resonates on the same level.
By the time the final buzzer sounds, Invincibles earns its crowd-pleasing uplift, offering audiences both stirring sports drama and a reminder that life’s setbacks don’t define you—how you respond to them does.
