‘MobLand’ Review: Tom Hardy Leads a Stylish, Slow-Burn Crime Saga

Paramount+’s MobLand isn’t just another gritty crime drama itching to escalate into mindless violence, while blood does spill aplenty, the series takes its time to layer character dynamics, internal tensions, and shifting power structures. With Guy Ritchie directing the first two episodes and producing the series, you might expect the usual barrage of cockney slang, frenetic edits, and slow-motion gunplay. Those elements are present but filtered through a surprisingly restrained and mature lens.

At the center of the show is Harry Da Souza, played with effortless control by Tom Hardy. Harry isn’t a mob boss. He’s a fixer. A cleaner. A man who gets things done, quietly and efficiently. “If I say I’m going to do something,” he warns, “it gets done.” That confidence becomes the show’s anchor. Harry doesn’t raise his voice or posture. Instead, he projects menace through calm precision, whether he’s dealing with police, wayward gang members, or his crumbling personal life.

The plot follows a long-standing truce between two London crime families: the Harrigans and the Stevensons. One controls guns, the other dominates the fentanyl trade. When a night of debauchery involving Eddie Harrigan—played with reckless swagger by Anson Boon—ends in a fatal stabbing, the delicate peace evaporates. “I gave him a plunge,” Eddie quips, revealing both his lack of guilt and his inability to comprehend the fallout. Enter Harry, tasked with damage control.

But MobLand isn’t just about crisis management. It’s about the systems behind the scenes—how decisions get made, how reputations are protected, and how power operates beneath a polished veneer. Ronan Bennett, the show’s creator and writer, takes an approach rooted in pragmatism. Crime, in this world, is a business. And Harry, as portrayed by Hardy, is less gangster and more high-level operations manager—albeit one with a knack for intimidation.

The Harrigan family provides the chaos Harry must contain. Pierce Brosnan plays Conrad, the flashy patriarch prone to bursts of enthusiasm and violence. His performance walks a fine line between eccentric and unhinged, and the accent is questionable, it does faulter from time, which is strange given Brosnan is Irish. The true authority, however, lies with Maeve Harrigan, played by Helen Mirren. She’s elegant, calculating, and downright psychotic, she’s always three steps ahead. Mirren’s performance is laced with a cold magnetism; her power is subtle but absolute.

MobLand doesn’t reinvent the genre, but it sharpens it with strong performances, tight direction, and a focused story.

There’s also Paddy Considine as Kevin Harrigan, Eddie’s father and the man who should be next in line. Kevin lacks the ruthless instinct required to lead, and as such, he’s slowly eclipsed by Harry, the family outsider who becomes indispensable. Considine brings quiet pathos to the role, his character often caught between duty and disillusionment.

In terms of aesthetics, Ritchie reins in his more exaggerated tendencies. The show’s visual identity is clean and deliberate. London’s underbelly is shot with a subdued richness that highlights both grit and grandeur. Boxing gyms, backstreet pubs, country manors they all become chessboards where characters maneuver for survival.

There is some humor. Hardy delivers lines with such understated timing that they verge on deadpan comedy. And when Harry warns two would-be tough guys, “Right now, I am in first gear… would you like to see me shift to sixth?”—it’s less a punchline than a quiet demolition of their confidence.

Season one of MobLand doesn’t reinvent the genre, but it sharpens it with strong performances, tight direction, and a focused story. The show offers a fresh take on gangster drama, while adding a bit of bite, the series stakes its claim as a solid, character-driven mob drama with brains and edge. And if the story ever loses its grip, Tom Hardy’s performance keeps it firmly in control.

All 10 episodes of MobLand are available to stream on Paramount+.

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