Gomorrah: The Origins review – a mob prequel so stylish you’ll look for Al Pacino
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- Gomorrah: The Origins is a prequel to the Italian mob series, set in 1977 in Secondigliano, a poverty-stricken quarter of northern Naples the review describes as abandoned by God and government
- Francesco Pellegrino stars as Angelo, an early-20s gangster whose leather-clad crew runs neighborhood rackets but who resents his small cut of the larger pie
- Luca Lubrano plays Pietro Savastano, a mid-teen petty thief whose surname Gomorrah fans recognize as a future mob king; his greasy corduroy coat is noted as sad next to Angelo's sharp clobber
- The plot turns on Angelo's crew being ambushed while guarding cash overnight, sparking a hunt for a rat and drawing Pietro into Angelo's orbit
- Pietro meets Imma (Tullia Venezia), a girl from a comfortable home who dreams of studying music at Juilliard, only to discover organized crime's reach into her own family
- The dialogue repeatedly invokes "freedom" — promised to foot soldiers but never delivered except to those at the top — a theme the review flags as central to the show's tragic premise
Why it matters: For Gomorrah fans, the prequel delivers the long-teased origin of Pietro Savastano, the mob king from the original series, while centering a theme the review highlights: that "freedom" is promised to foot soldiers but only delivered to those at the top. The review frames the show as a departure from standard mob-drama heft, leaning instead on youthful protagonists and 1970s fashion to deliver freshness and tenderness alongside the violence.
