Suburra

Stylish neo-noir set in Rome's criminal underworld

Film Review by Michael Jaconelli | 02 Mar 2016
Film title: Suburra
Director: Stefano Sollima
Starring: Pierfrancesco Favino, Elio Germano, Claudio Amendola
Release date: 13 May
Certificate: 18

Taking its name from the Suburra quarter in Ancient Rome – a place populated with taverns and brothels where criminals and politicians met to conduct business – this stylish crime thriller aims to show just how little has changed in the city in the intervening years.

It’s 2011 and Italy is on the brink of economic collapse. With an initially disparate and convoluted narrative, taking in a slimy politician, a gypsy loan shark, one amoral PR manager, an ambitious local gang boss and the Mafia, Suburra drops the viewer directly into a miasma of corruption with little preamble.

Perhaps too much material for one film to properly cover – it will likely thrive as the ten-part series soon to be adapted by Netflix – it nevertheless remains compelling throughout thanks to shimmering nocturnal cinematography, intense performances from a solid cast and an ominous soundtrack by French duo M83.

Directed with terse muscularity by Stefano Sollima (TV series Gomorrah), Suburra will command your attention all the way to its bloody and operatic finale.


Suburra screened at Glasgow Film Festival  and is released 13 May by Kaleidoscope Entertainment.

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