Suburra **** (2015, Pierfrancesco Favino, Elio Germano, Claudio Amendola, Alessandro Borghi, Adamo Dionisi, Greta Scarano) – Classic Movie Review 13,902

Stefano Sollima’s brilliant 2015 Italian neo-noir crime film Suburra focuses on sex, violence, organized crime, politics and religion in Rome, in a terrifying Mafia story inspired by true events.

Director Stefano Sollima’s brilliant 2015 Italian neo-noir crime film Suburra is based on the 2013 novel by Carlo Bonini and Giancarlo De Cataldo, and stars Pierfrancesco Favino, Elio Germano and Claudio Amendola, along with Alessandro Borghi, Adamo Dionisi, and Greta Scarano.

The Netflix and RAI movie focuses on the connections between organized crime, politics and religion in Rome in 2011, inspired by true events from the Mafia Capitale. In November 2011, the Italian gangster Samurai (Claudio Amendola) wants to turn the waterfront of Rome into a new Las Vegas. The Rome mob bosses have all agreed to work together for this lucrative plan, and they have politicians and the Church safely bribed on their side, but of course peace is not going to last long or we wouldn’t have this movie.

Suburra is a classy, fast moving, complex, edge-of-seat Rome mafia thriller, always disturbing, quite frightening in places, extremely cleverly, and unpredictably plotted and stylishly delivered by director Stefano Sollima. It is a thrilling neo noir, with shocking horror moments and tremendous action set pieces, and quiet, menacing dialogue sequences, the calm before the storm. Incredibly, all the diverse, interconnected plot elements are under control, and come together satisfyingly at the end, with hardly a character still alive, and those who are, are having their revenge or their just desserts.

Claudio Amendola is very cool and calculating as Samurai, Pierfrancesco Favino sweaty and creepy as the bent politician, Alessandro Borghi scary as the villainous Aureliano ‘Numero 8’ Adami, and Elio Germano persuasively weak and pathetic as the pimp Sebastiano, who is in desperate trouble with the Anacleti family, led by patriarch Manfredi (Adamo Dionisi, terrifying).

Pierfrancesco Favino stars as Italian member of Parliament Filippo Malgradi, involved with Samurai in pushing a bill to change the classification of administrative areas, aiming to allow a real estate project in Ostia to be turned into a Las Vegas-like city. Unfortunately, Malgradi is also involved with sex with two prostitutes, Sabrina and the underage Yelena. who dies from cocaine intoxication. Somehow they’ve got to get rid of the body, and this is where all the trouble really begins, in a descent into hell sequence of events, spiralling exponentially out of control.

A big shout out to the dazzling cinematography of Paolo Carnera, the score by the French electronic rock group M83, and the editing by Patrizio Marone. Overseeing it all commandingly, it is Stefano Sollima’s triumph, bringing it all together so brilliantly.

Suburra was the name of a suburb of Ancient Rome.

In 2017, Netflix released a TV adaptation of the movie, a three season, 24 episode series called Suburra: Blood on Rome,  A second six episode TV spinoff, Suburræterna, was released on 14 November 2023.

Released: 14 October 2015 (Italy).

Duration: 130 minutes.

Production:  Rai Cinema, Cattleya, La Chouve, 01 Distribution.

© Derek Winnert 2026 – Classic Movie Review 13,902

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