The original post: /r/television by /u/noteasybeincheesy on 2025-11-02 16:06:53+00:00.
I kept getting ads for on some of my streaming services, which I’m normally averse to (I guess they’re getting better at… a topic for another discussion). Anyways, besides my fetish for basically anything historical, the trailers were very compelling, and frankly the music slapped, so I decided to check it out.
I have to say, I am only three episodes in and I am not disappointed in the slightest. I can’t speak to the historical accuracy, but it certainly captures the vibe of Il Duce, and is highly topically relevant for the times.
More importantly, it’s just good tv. The acting is phenomenal, the writing and the pacing are all very well done, and the score is dynamite. First of all, it’s written and directed by Joe Wright (Atonement: i.e. good movie) and led by Luca Marinelli who is an Italian actor I was not previously familiar with but is outstanding. The score is kind of anachronistic (heavy on the EDM) but it’s so good it’s worth ignoring and really enhances the atmosphere of the show. Drawbacks are that it’s a miniseries for one (maybe a plus for some), it’s entirely in Italian with captions, and there is some fourth-wall breaking, which I’m not a fan of, but understand the stylistic choice.
Right now it’s available on Mubi (which is a $ based streaming subscription service), but they’re offering a 7 day free trial right now which I obviously took them up on. Their movie selection is pretty good as well, but this isn’t an ad for Mubi, it’s just a bonus of signing up to check out this show. Highly recommend checking it out because it’s not getting the discussion I think it really deserves. I’m kind of shocked that I haven’t seen any other threads on it from this subreddit.
Overall: 9/10 not that my opinion really matters.
Edit: oopsies, fat-fingered Mussolini’s name in the title