‘The Ruthless’ – Italian Crime Drama (Stream it on Netflix)

Loosely based on the book Manager calibro 9 by Pietro Colaprico and Luca Fazzo, the Italian French crime drama “The Ruthless” (Italian: Lo spietato) is inspired by the real-life story of mafia boss Saverio Morabito who was active in the 1990s and later became a police informant.

Written and directed by Renato De Maria, the basic storyline of “The Ruthless” is no different as we have read or watched films on many such underworld crime stories. While this is not an exact copy of what’s written in the book, the film indeed is one of those inspired ones from the Scorsese films or the 70s Italian crime films.

Let’s watch the trailer of “The Ruthless”

“The Ruthless” follows a restless and rebellious teen who grows up to become one of the most ambitious criminals during the ‘Ndrangheta mafia time in the 80s and 90s. The crime lords then were involved in many organized crimes, including trafficking, extortion racket, and money laundering.

Here in the film, Riccardo Scamarcio plays the crime boss Santo Russo who rises from the streets of Calabria to become one of the most dreaded criminals of Milan. He ends up doing every illicit job in the book, from robberies, kidnappings, and then getting into the construction, and drug trafficking, to get into the world of the wealthy and powerful.

So, typically “The Ruthless” in the first half is about the rise and then the fall of Russo. In between, we see many comical elements very nicely laced into the narrative thereby making it more entertaining than those many violent gangster movies.

While Lo spietato is not the only latest mobster movie on Netflix, some of you might like to give it a try, as this is one of those few modern Italian movies depicting the ferocious crime world of Italy in the 80s or 90s. Also, the story is interesting as we see the character of the mobster becoming a repentant in the latter part of his life, which is true as mentioned in the book on the life of Morabito.

Overall, the film “The Ruthless” might not be the finest but it’s worth a try. You might like a few elements of comedy in a few scenes, and the drama depicting the personal life of the protagonist, as well as the performance of Riccardo Scamarcio.

The Ruthless – Movie Credits

Genre: Movies Based on Real Life, Movies Based on Books, Italian Movies, Crime Movies, Gangster Movies, Crime Dramas, Dramas
Starring: Riccardo Scamarcio, Sara Serraiocco, Alessio Praticò, Alessandro Tedeschi, Marie-Ange Casta
Directed by Renato De Maria
Written by Renato De Maria, Valentina Strada
Release Date/Year: April 8, 2019
Original language: Italian (available for streaming with English subtitle)

Where to watch The Ruthless (2019)