The New Mafia Crime Drama You Need To Watch
2023 is shaping up to be another great year for crime drama, from the BBC’s The Gold and Happy Valley to upcoming shows from HBO like Love & Death. Disney+ is getting in one the action with the launch of its new British-Italian drama, The Good Mothers, heading to our screens on April 5th.
The Good Mothers is based on the 2018 nook of the same name by Alex Perry, which told the true story of the women who took on the Calabrian mafia, or the ‘Ndranghet. The ‘Ndranghet has existed for since the 1790s, and is one the richest and most powerful crime groups in the world. It manages almost three-quarters of the cocaine in all of Europe, and extorts and embezzles money from Italy and the European Union, sells weapons to ISIS and has links to crime organisations all over the world. It’s no wonder then that anyone trying to stand up to them faces tough resistance and the very real threat of death.
The Disney+ series focuses on three individuals within the clan, all of whom are treated badly in the chauvinistic culture of the mafia.
Denise Cosco (Gaia Girace), Giuseppina Pesce (Valentina Bellè) and Maria Concetta Cacciola (Simona Distefano) partner with prosecutor Anna Colace (Barbara Chichiarelli) to bring down the organisation with their inside knowledge. They know that going against the family is extremely dangerous, but do so in order to try and create a better life and future for their children and themselves. Anna realises that the women can influence the crime group from the inside, and also testify and give evidence against them. As the show’s synopsis puts it: “to be able to defeat the ‘Ndrangheta clans, you need to focus on the women. It is a strategy that brings with it great risk: The ‘Ndrangheta is famous and feared for its iron fist and insidious power.”
The show debuted with its first two episodes at the Berlin International Film Festival, and won the first ever Berlinale Series Award. The full series is set to arrive on Disney+ in the UK on 5th April, with all episodes releasing simultaneously.
The full series is set to arrive on Disney+ in the UK on 5th April
