On my binge watch list: McMafia (BBC)

I found a new tv show that I added to my binge watch list. It is called McMafia and you can see it on BBC. This show is planned to be 8 episodes long and is inspired by a true story: McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld by Misha Glenny.

It stars James Norton (yum!) as Alex Godman, son of an exiled Jewish Russian oligarch. He was raised and privately schooled in Britain and refuses to have anything to do with the family business. He runs his own hedge fund when we witness him getting dragged into a darker world nonetheless. We end up in a story full with complicated intrige involving gangsters from Russia and other international criminals. And a lot of family issues...

Source: official trailer

My opinion

After having seen 3 episodes, I know that I will watch every single one of them. Normally, I am not a big fan of British tv shows and was pleasantly surprised by this one. The British accent isn't over the top and other languages are spoken. While a lot of that is Russian, it doesn't distract me from the story at all. It all feels pretty natural. Though, I can't really tell how terrible Norton's Russian accent sounds to a Russian speaker. That might help ;)

I might be a little faint of heart lately. But there are a couple of pretty shocking scenes in the show. They need to be there and they aren't too graphical. But I have looked away once or twice (just a warning). But it makes the story very realistic and knowing that it is partly based on a non-fiction book makes it even more real. Why do people do this!!?

The acting is great. The dad actually looks like a drunk 24/7 while carrying his bottle of wodka with him at all times. I am hoping for him there is actually just water in there ;). James is able to keep a pretty straight face and show many layers at the same time, which I find very impressive.

But one of the main reasons that I like this show? They shoot at pretty awesome locations around the world. So far, I have seen parts of London, Mumbai, Moscow, Prague, Cairo, and Tel Aviv, and many will follow.