Suburra

A rush of fresh blood to a fine Italian tradition, it doesnt take long for Stefano Sollimas enthralling new crime saga Suburra to transcend its familiar parts. As we begin, a crime lord (known only as Samurai) has started actioning plans to amass beachfront property for an Atlantic City-style gambling paradise. But as Sollimas web of desperate players quickly spreads, it seems nobody is above getting their hands dirty for a piece of the action. Implicating a cast of politicians, prostitutes, crooks and clergymen (to name a few), Suburra relishes in playing its multiple threads against each other in brutal, unpredictable ways. Bribery, blackmail, kidnapping and murder are just a handful of plot turns to look forward to. But as the bullets fly, Sollima is stringing up a damning portrait of Romes upper echelon, in which corruption rains relentlessly and its the everymen struggling beneath that get drenched. It seems the real-life resonances were felt too; Suburra proved such a sensation with audiences in its home country that Netflix immediately commissioned a follow-up television series for 2017.  JF