Audiences will always love movies and shows centered around the mafia, not only because of the thrills, but because there’s just something undeniable about rooting for the underdog bad guy. The Sopranos immediately comes to mind as fitting that bill, with fans coming back every episode to cheer on Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) no matter what awful thing he did.
Although not exactly a mafia series, Breaking Bad had the same themes, yet Walter White (Bryan Cranston) became more redeemable the worse he got. Netflix’s Rulers of Fortune, which came out at the end of October, is the latest drama centered around dangerous anti-heroes, but if you’ve missed it as you’re binging Stranger Things, look up this compelling Brazilian series that’s been a streaming hit right away.
What Is Netflix’s Mafia Series ‘Rulers of Fortune’ About?
Rulers of Fortune, created by Heitor Dhalia (Gone, Criminal Code), Bruno Passeri, and Bernardo Barcellos, is a thrilling crime show set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Against the beautiful backdrop is a dark and tragic story about Profeta (André Lamoglia), a man in his 20s who is caught up in the underground world of illegal gambling. It starts with Profeta, in a bid to help his own family, planning to steal slot machines and turn rival families against each other.
Craving power, Profeta goes up against Rio’s most powerful families, including his own Moraes family, and the divided Guerra family (whose slot machines Profeta wants to steal), with some powerful women, including Mirna (Mela Maia) and Suzana (Giullia Buscaccio), but led by Jorge Guerra (Robert Pirllio). There is also the cunning and deadly Fernandez and Saad families, all with men in the driver’s seat, but determined women in the background who are putting everything together.
Related
This one’s not for the faint of heart.
Rulers of Fortune has plenty of melodrama, sex, and violence, but it’s built on the conflict of so many shady characters wanting control of the same thing. Profeta, a former mixed martial arts fighter, isn’t from this world, but wanting to earn the respect of his father will push him down a bloody path to power. In the Guerra family, Mirna and Suzana are sisters, but they will betray each other to get what they want. In a series where the women might be more powerful than the propped-up men who think they’re the center of attention, it’s Leila Fernandez (Juliana Paes) who shouldn’t be counted out, as she seeks to control what is held by her husband, Galego (Chico Diaz). Just how many of them will make it out of this quest for criminal power alive?
‘Rulers of Fortune’ Explores Real Life Gambling Concerns in Brazil
Leila (Juliana Paes) in ‘Rulers of Fortune’Image via Netflix
Amid so much betrayal and romance, and a cast of impossibly pretty people, Rulers of Fortune can be a bit over-the-top. With four competing families, there are also way too many characters to keep track of, which holds some back, as they don’t get enough screen time to make much of an impact to the story. No one’s really all that likable, which isn’t much of a surprise for the genre, but with Tony Soprano, we see his pain and anxiety as he’s living a life he doesn’t really want all that much. With Walter White, his own pain, through cancer and feeling like a dying failure, leads to his push to become a drug kingpin to give his waning life some worth and excitement.
Rulers of Fortune is all about greed with no one to really root for, but that’s also what makes it so watchable. The protagonists here are all antagonists, as selfishness and violence lead the way to power. It’s like a chess game for control with so much going on both on the screen and under the surface, all in front of the slick, bright lights of Rio.
There is also a real life parallel to the series. These families want to hold all the power in illegal gambling, but both in the show and in real life, gambling has become legal in Brazil and their Senate is looking at making “jogo do bicho” type gambling, as seen in the series, legal as well. Rulers of Fortune isn’t perfect, and the characters sometimes slide into trope-y territory. However, it’s held together through the mixture of leaning into and accepting its soap opera formula, while also putting that in a reality where criminals who have held power for so long might not lose it to other criminals, but to a society where what was once deemed wrong is now acceptable and legal. What do the antagonists do when that happens? This is the real intrigue of Rulers of Fortune and could be the entire basis for a second season.