Mafia: 56

West Side Story (2021) is a an erican musical romantic drama film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg, based on the 1957 stage musical of the same name. The story centers around two rival gangs, the Jets and Sharks, who battle for control of San Juan Hill in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. As tensions rise between the groups, NYPD Sergeant Krupke and Lieutenant Schrank intervene and remind them that their conflict is pointless as the neighborhood will soon be demolished for the Lincoln Center. Despite this warning, Jet leader Riff remains determined to settle things with a rumble and enlists his friend ...

The film The Irishman (2019) is a Martin Scorsese-directed and produced epic gangster movie, based on Steven Zaillian’s screenplay adapted from the book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt. It follows the story of Frank Sheeran, an elderly Irish-American WWII veteran living in a nursing home, who reflects on his past as a hitman for the Italian-American Mafia. Sheeran starts off as a delivery truck driver in 1950s Philadelphia and begins selling meat shipments to local gangster ‘Skinny ...

The Gentlemen (2019) is an action comedy film written, directed and produced by Guy Ritchie, who also co-developed the story with Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies. The editor of the Daily Print tabloid, Big Dave, feeling slighted by cannabis baron Mickey Pearson at a party, hires private detective Fletcher to look into Pearson’s connections with Lord Pressfield. Laura, Pressfield’s daughter and a heroin addict, becomes a focus of Fletcher’s investigation. In an attempt to profit from his findings (which he ...

The American crime drama, The Mule (2018), was both directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, who also stars in the film. After missing his daughter Iris’s wedding to receive a prestigious lifetime award for his work as a horticulturalist in 2005, Korean War veteran Earl Stone faces the consequences of choosing his career over his family. This event leads to his daughter cutting off communication and his wife filing for divorce. Twelve years later, Earl attends his granddaughter Ginny’s wedding rehearsal without revealing that he is bankrupt and facing foreclosure on his once successful flower farm. It is ...

Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018) is a thriller directed by Stefano Sollima and written by Taylor Sheridan. After ISIS commits a deadly bombing in Kansas City, CIA agent Matt Graver is recruited by the U.S. government to investigate. Suspecting involvement from Mexican drug cartels, Graver enlists Alejandro Gillick and collaborates with Department of Defense officials to instigate conflict between rival factions. To maintain plausible deniability, Graver seeks assistance from PMC official Andy Wheeldon for mercenaries, helicopters, and communication equipment. Meanwhile, ...

Live by Night (2016) is a compelling crime drama featuring Ben Affleck as the writer, director, producer and star. Based on Dennis Lehane’s 2012 novel of the same title, it follows the story of Joe Coughlin, an Irish-American World War I veteran and son of Boston police captain Thomas Coughlin. In the year 1926, Joe falls for Emma Gould, the mistress of notorious gangster Albert White who he and his friends have been targeting through a series of robberies. Despite Thomas’ disapproval and warnings against Joe’s criminal activities, the love between Joe ...

The American biographical crime drama film, Black Mass (2015), tells the story of notorious mobster Whitey Bulger. Directed by Scott Cooper and written by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth, it is based on Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill’s 2001 book Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob. Set in 1975, the film follows James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, leader of the ...

Sicario (2015) is an American action thriller film directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Taylor Sheridan. Set in Chandler, Arizona, it follows FBI Special Agents Kate Macer and Reggie Wayne as they lead a raid on a Sonora Cartel safe house, where they make a gruesome discovery. During the operation, two police officers are killed by an explosive booby trap. As a result of her performance, Kate joins a Joint Task Force run by CIA Officer Matt Graver and former Mexican prosecutor turned CIA-trained assassin Alejandro Gillick. Together, they aim to locate and capture ...

Fargo (2014–2024) is an award-winning American black comedy crime drama TV show, created and primarily written by Noah Hawley. Inspired by the 1996 film of the same name, which was written and directed by the Coen brothers, it also takes place within the same fictional universe. The Coens were impressed with Hawley’s script and served as executive producers for the series. It first aired on FX on April 15, 2014, and follows an anthology format. Each season is set in a ...

Created by Steven Knight, Peaky Blinders (2013–2022) is a British period crime drama set in Birmingham during the aftermath of World War I. The show follows the notorious exploits of a gang bearing the same name, loosely inspired by a real urban youth gang from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The series centers around a family with mixed Irish Traveller and Romani roots, situated in Birmingham, England, just months after the end of the war. Led by their cunning and ambitious boss Tommy Shelby, the Peaky Blinders gang capture the attention of Major Chester Campbell, a detective chief inspector dispatched from ...

Mob City (2013) is an American neo-noir crime drama television series based on real-life accounts of the L.A.P.D. and gangsters in 1940s Los Angeles, chronicled in John Buntin’s book L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City. It follows the decades-long conflict between the Los Angeles Police Department, led by police chief William Parker, and ruthless criminal elements under the leadership of Bugsy Siegel, who controlled mafia operations in the city. Set in 1947, with glimpses into the 1920s for context, this crime drama captures a time of flashy cars and budding movie ...

The Counselor (2013), directed by Ridley Scott and written by Cormac McCarthy, is a crime thriller film. In Mexico, cocaine is transported in barrels inside a sewage truck across the border to the United States. The drug is then stored at a sewage treatment plant. To purchase an engagement ring for his girlfriend Laura, The Counselor travels to Amsterdam to meet with a diamond dealer. Upon returning to the United States, he attends a party in Texas hosted by drug dealer Reiner and his girlfriend Malkina. During their conversation, The Counselor reveals his involvement in ...

Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014) is a popular American period crime drama created by Terence Winter and aired on HBO. It takes place primarily in Atlantic City, New Jersey during the Prohibition era of the 1920s and features Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson, a notorious criminal. Winter drew inspiration from Nelson Johnson’s 2002 non-fiction book, Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, which focuses on the real-life kingpin Enoch L. ...

Public Enemies (2009), an American biographical crime drama film directed by Michael Mann, follows notorious criminal John Dillinger as he attempts to evade the law and continue his life of crime in 1933. With a screenplay co-written by Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman, the movie begins with Dillinger’s daring escape from the Indiana State Penitentiary alongside his crew. Tragically, his mentor Walter Dietrich is killed during the jailbreak. After changing their clothes and finding refuge at a safe house on Chicago’s east side, Dillinger and his accomplices carry out a series of bank robberies while FBI agent ...

Il divo (2008) is a biographical drama directed by Paolo Sorrentino that delves into the life of former Italian Prime Minister, Giulio Andreotti. The film competed at the Cannes Film Festival and received the prestigious Jury Prize. It follows Andreotti’s political career, which was plagued by accusations of Mafia connections and scandalous events such as his seventh election in 1992, his unsuccessful attempt at becoming President, and his controversial trial in 1995. As the film begins, Giulio Andreotti reflects on his ability to endure a tumultuous political career, unlike his ...

RocknRolla (2008), a gangster crime comedy film by Guy Ritchie, follows the story of mob boss Lenny Cole as he dominates London’s real estate business with help from corrupt councillor and right-hand man Archy. When billionaire Russian businessman Uri Omovich plans a lucrative land deal, everyone in the city wants a piece of it — including Stella, Uri’s devious accountant, and a gang known as ‘The Wild Bunch’ led by small-time crook ‘One-Two’, his partner ‘Mumbles’, and their driver ‘Handsome Bob’. In exchange for €7,000,000 to bribe the Council, Uri lends ...

The French crime film, The Second Wind (2007), helmed by Alain Corneau, follows the story of Gu – a notorious gangster who has recently broken out of prison. With all of the French police hot on his trail, Gu must make a swift exit from the country with Manouche, his beloved. In order to fund their escape, Gu seeks out one last job. However, things take a turn when a corrupt police officer sets him up and makes it seem like he betrayed his own team. Determined to clear his name and restore his honour, Gu will stop at nothing to achieve justice.

American Gangster (2007), a biographical crime film, was directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by Steven Zaillian. Set in 1968, it follows the story of Frank Lucas, who worked as the right-hand man for Ellsworth ‘Bumpy’ Johnson, a Harlem mob boss. After Johnson’s death from a heart attack, Frank delves into the heroin trade by sourcing it directly from Thailand and smuggling it into the United States through returning Vietnam War soldiers. He markets his product under the name ‘Blue Magic’, which quickly gains popularity due to ...

The American crime thriller film, The Departed (2006), was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, and also draws inspiration from the Boston Winter Hill Gang. In 1980s Boston, Irish Mob leader Frank Costello takes a liking to a young Colin Sullivan. After many years, Sullivan becomes a spy for the Massachusetts State Police (MSP) and joins their Special Investigation Unit (SIU). Meanwhile, another recruit at the police academy named Billy Costigan is asked by Captain Queenan and ...

Be Cool (2005) is an American crime comedy film based on Elmore Leonard’s novel of the same name. It serves as the sequel to Leonard’s 1990 novel Get Shorty, which was also adapted into a film in 1995. The story centers around Chili Palmer, a mobster who becomes disenchanted with filmmaking and turns to the music industry following the public murder of his friend Tommy Athens, who owned a struggling record label. Chili offers to help Tommy’s widow, Edie Athens, revive the business which is in debt to hip-hop producer Sin LaSalle for $300,000. ...