TL;DR – A delightfully terse and messy return to a fascinating series.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that I used to view this series.

The Gentlemen Review –

Back in 2024, when I heard that they were going to make a spiritual homage to the movie The Gentlemen on a vibes level while keeping the title, I was a touch concerned. I shouldn’t have been, because Guy Ritchie’s works tend to be interesting if nothing else. The first season was full of style, but a bit uneven; it was absolutely enough to make me want to see where they go in a second outing.

So, to set the scene, we open with Edward “Eddie” Horniman, the 13th Duke of Halstead (Theo James), having a very, very, very bad day. Three months earlier, things are looking a lot better for the Duke, as he starts his manipulations for Susie’s (Kaya Scodelario) father, Bobby (Ray Winstone). All he has to do is grease Lord Richard Hawthorne (Hugh Bonneville) to get a peerage in the House of Lords, and keep his new Italian fixer Cico (Michele Morrone) in line. What is the worst that could happen? Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

Presentation

Where The Gentlemen succeeds against many of its contemporaries is in the commitment to style. Now, a lot of that comes from the clothes everyone wears, the buildings they film in, and the general aristocratic-adjacent setting. But instead of just sitting on their laurels here, the production clearly takes a lot of work in making each scene pop, in the staging, framing, and lighting of each scene. It is this style that helps the cast feel a part of this world because while they are clearly acting to the nosebleeds, they are keeping it just close enough to their chests that it never goes into farce. It is the perfect balance. I also love the use of the fourth-wall-breaking overlay that helps punctuate those moments that need it.

In medias res

I am on the record as saying that I hate the use of in medias res as a narrative technique, and I stand by it. It has a long history of stemming from lazy writing, trying to heighten a coming doom in the edit because they did not capture it in the narrative. So, there was a bit of an internal groan here when they added the ‘three months earlier’ title card. While I still don’t like the way it shows your hand, I was grateful for the narrative progression that it felt intentional rather than an edit. This is because it helped bookend the episode in profound disquiet. Getting eaten by a tiger probably would have accomplished that by itself, but I can see where they were going.    

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend The Gentlemen? Well, I would say that it was a fantastic opening episode to get us ready for the new season. I will keep my reservations for the rest of the season, because the first season also started strong before getting uneasy in places. However, I am looking forward to seeing just how bad things go in Italy. Have you seen The Gentlemen yet? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Feel free to share this review on social media and check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Gentlemen
Directed by – Guy Ritchie
Written by – Guy Ritchie & Matthew Read
Created by – Guy Ritchie
Based On – The Gentlemen by Guy Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson & Bill Block
Production/Distribution Companies – Moonage Pictures, Miramax Television & Netflix
Starring – Theo James, Kaya Scodelario, Daniel Ings, Joely Richardson, Hugh Bonneville, Michele Morrone, Benedetta Porcaroli, Sergio Castellitto, Vinnie Jones, & Ray Winstone
With – Jasmine Blackborow, Harry Goodwins, Benjamin Clementine, Tyler Conti, Maya Jama, Chris Eubank Jr, Ruby Sear, Logan Dean, Stephane Fichet, Amra Mallassi, Jimmy Vee, Michael Elkin, Harvey Quinn, Amari Bacchus, Thomas Kadman, & Rocci Boy Williams