Suburra: Badass new Netflix original drama to turn ‘season then a movie’ model upside down

It's about an endemic system of corruption on the Roman coast

Suburra is from the makers of Gomorrah

Netflix has commissioned its first original series from Italy, a dark crime drama from the indie TV company behind the excellent Gomorrah, involving ‘politics, the Vatican, the mafia, corruption, money laundering, drugs and prostitution’.

TV shows occasionally climax with a movie, but Suburra is going the other way around, with a feature film released in cinemas beginning the narrative, which will be continued in the 10-episode drama on Netflix.

Based on the book by Giancarlo De Cataldo and Carlo Bonini, Suburra will tell the story of a ‘gruelling battle over a seaside town outside of Rome which is to be developed into a gambling paradise,’ involving corrupt politicians and religious leaders and hardened mafiosos.

The film is expected to open in cinemas in Italy and go live on Netflix worldwide on 14 October, with the series to follow the next year.

Gomorrah was a critical hit and award winner, centring on a Nepalese crime syndicate called the Casalesi clan.

@christophhooton