It’s a good time to be Guy Ritchie on Netflix. The Brit grit master has got a hit series, The Gentlemen, in its second season that’s in the streamer’s Top 10. Plus, the movie that series is based on is here, as is the recently added The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, both of which we have the details on below as part of this week’s roundup that is decidedly savage.
That said, the grit doesn’t stop at Ritchie—on this week’s roundup of movies for Netflix U.S. subscribers, we’ve also got a sequel to one of the greatest Scottish dark comedies ever, starring Ewan McGregor, and it’s my top pick.
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The Gentlemen
Marijuana, gang stuff, and sharp, Ritchie dialogue
Before it gave birth to a hit Netflix series of the same name (season 2 landed September 3), The Gentlemen was Guy Ritchie’s big-screen return to the deliciously gritty and stylish British crime capers that he made his name with—think Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. And thank goodness.
And as per that form, The Gentlemen is stocked with a cast any director would kill to have: Matthew McConaughey, for starters, stars as cannabis kingpin Mickey Pearson, an American swimming among the British aristocrats and running his empire from beneath their fancy estates. Well, Mickey’s getting older and wants out, but when he tries to sell to billionaire Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong), wannabe gangster Dry Eye (Henry Golding) and his associate Coach (Colin Farrell) aren’t making it easy.
The stars don’t stop there, with more supporting players, including Hugh Grant as a sleazy private dick threatening to sell the whole story to the highest bidder, and Charlie Hunnam as Mickey’s right-hand man.
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The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Guy Ritchie and Henry Cavill’s handlebar mustache take on some Nazis
Oh man, even Guy Ritchie has out-Ritchie’d himself with this one. This time, however, he’s taken famed writer and historian Damien Lewis’s 2014 book, Churchill’s Secret Warriors, which is based on a true story, and filled it with scuzzy cool, war-hero bravado, and loads of Henry Cavill sticking his tongue out from behind one hell of a handlebar mustache.
Loosely based on Lewis’ book, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is about a rogue black-ops group led by Gus March-Phillipps (Cavill), secretly deployed to a remote island off the coast of Africa to disable an Italian ship that’s been resupplying Nazi U-boats during World War II. But it ain’t going to be easy—first they need to rescue Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer) from the Gestapo, before the rest of them, including huge Danish commando Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson) and Freddy Alvarez (Henry Golding), get to work. Already on the island, Marjorie Stewart (Eiza González) has been working undercover, but still, everything goes off the rails in the best Guy Ritchie ways possible.
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T2 Trainspotting
Choose life, choose a sequel
For many of us, 1996’s drug-fueled dark comedy Trainspotting was the first time we’d ever really noticed Ewan McGregor. His strung-out heroin addict character Renton was the epitome of desperation–always scamming to get his next fix. It took nearly a decade for McGregor to bury the hatchet with director Danny Boyle (who cast Leonardo DiCaprio in The Beach, instead of Ewan), but T2 Trainspotting (a.k.a. Trainspotting 2) finally got made in 2017.
Loosely based on Irvine Welsh’s novel Porno, we pick up two decades after Renton made off with the drug money he stole from his friends—Spud (Ewen Bremner) and Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller)—and the psychotic Begbie (Robert Carlyle), before disappearing to start a new life. Now, after a near-fatal heart attack, Renton returns to Edinburgh to make amends and help a still-addicted Spud and struggling pub owner Sick Boy. But Begbie breaks out of prison and wants his pound of flesh. It didn’t do as well as Trainspotting, but Trainspotting 2 has a solid 81% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Get down and gritty this week
Seedy underworlds are some of my favorite underworlds, especially if they come laden with British or Scottish accents (or any accent, really). If you want a bit more, you could also add the classic Al Pacino masterpiece Scarface to your watchlist, too. After that, you can head to our streams section for more recommendations for U.S. subscribers.
- Subscription with ads
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Yes, $8/month
- Simultaneous streams
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Two or four
- Live TV
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No
- Price
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Starting at $8/month
Stream licensed and original programming with a monthly Netflix subscription.