Guy Ritchie’s 8-Part Netflix Series Is A Must-Watch For Crime Drama Fans

Guy Ritchie’s movies are almost a genre of their own, with the director making his name with gangster crime movies with a sense of humor, like Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch. The consistent themes and regular Guy Ritchie collaborators mean that audiences know what to expect, and both The Gentlemen franchise entries are no exception.

Netflix is home to some excellent thrillers and crime dramas, but most are heavier on the scares and psychological aspects. On the other hand, Guy Ritchie’s 2024 TV show The Gentlemen offers something new for the streaming platform, blending fast-paced action, typical crime elements, and larger-than-life characters with a sense of humor that has been described as “unhinged.”

Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen Is A Great Crime Drama On Netflix

The Gentlemen is about an aristocrat who inherits his family’s estate and returns home to discover that it is being used as an enormous weed empire. The excellent cast of The Gentlemen includes Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) as Stanley Johnston, a billionaire with his sights on the estate, longtime Ritchie collaborator Vinnie Jones, Kaya Scodelario (Skins,) and Theo James (The White Lotus.)

The show is much more character-driven and self-aware than many of Ritchie’s previous projects, and includes some on-the-nose references to other series. The Gentlemen is Esposito’s Breaking Bad replacement, as he once again plays a meth lord with great ambitions, though Esposito told Digital Spy that the two characters are different, as “Stanley’s a lot lighter than Gus.”

Crime dramas can often be hard to get right, especially when they include a blend of genres as Guy Ritchie’s work tends to do. However, with an 84% positive audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes and largely positive reviews, The Gentlemen is a great crime drama to binge watch during a weekend. The series has just eight episodes, lasting around 50 minutes each.

Netflix’s The Gentlemen Is A Spinoff Of Guy Ritchie’s 2019 Movie

The Gentlemen TV show takes place in the same universe as the 2019 film of the same name. That said, you do not need to be familiar with the events in the movie as the TV show presents an original story. Essentially, Guy Ritchie remade his own story in The Gentlemen TV show, as both feature a secret weed farm on an aristocratic property.

The movie is considerably grittier, opening with violence and telling the story from the perspective of the people involved in the weed business, while the TV show builds up more slowly with the unwitting aristocrat as the main character. Still, fans of the original movie will appreciate the references scattered in the show, as characters are often name-dropped.

The TV show and movie could have crossed over to a greater extent than a few references, but the two are completely separate, allowing viewers to choose which to watch first. That said, many of the movie characters have TV show counterparts, and The Gentlemen TV show improves a major character from the movie by writing them a better story arc.

The Gentlemen Season 2 Is Coming In 2026

Netflix often cancels promising projects, which tends to leave the future of new shows uncertain, even if they have great reviews. However, the second season of The Gentlemen was confirmed shortly after season 1 aired. The second installment in the story will continue the story of Eddie Horniman (Theo James) and his dealings with the Glass family.

Season 2 of The Gentlemen had an exciting production update when Netflix released a behind-the-scenes video showing James and Scodelario leaving their trailers and wearing their characters’ distinctive outfits. They are greeted by other cast members before aiming their shotguns into the sky. The clip might be short, but it confirmed that season 2 is continuing the tone established in season 1.

Season 1 ended with Bobby Glass seemingly cornered by enemies as he ponders the option of retirement. When this is revealed to be a test, Glass showed that there was still plenty of life in him, and the core duo will have to continue working closely with him. With scenes shot outside the UK, Season 2 of The Gentlemen looks set to raise the stakes.

Source: Digital Spy