''The Good Mothers'' is a 2023 British-Italian

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

streaming television series directed by Julian Jarrold and Elisa Amoruso. Based on a true story and adapted from the eponymous novel by Alex Perry, the series depicts how the three courageous women inside the notorious Calabrian

'Ndrangheta The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a prominent Italian Mafia-type organized crime syndicate and secret society, criminal society based in the peninsular and mountainous region of Calabria and dating back to the late 18th century. It is considered one of ...

mafia worked with a female prosecutor to bring down the criminal empire. ''The Good Mothers'' had its international premiere at

73rd Berlin International Film Festival The 73rd annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale (), took place from 16 to 26 February 2023. It was the first completely in-person Berlinale since the 70th in 2020. The festival has added a new award for best te ...

in Berlinale Series on 21 February 2023, as first 2 episodes out of 6 were screened. It was released on April 5, 2023 internationally on

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and on

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in the United States.

Synopsis

Set in 2010, the series begins with the disappearance of Lea Garofalo, who, together with her daughter Denise, had decided to end the

mafia. In

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, Anna Colace, a public prosecutor committed against the criminal clans, develops a new strategy to crush the power of the gangs by influencing the female members to collaborate and thus undermine the organization's power structure. A strategy that puts women in front, and betray their families, in the hope of better future for themselves and their children.

Cast

* Gaia Girace as Denise Cosco *

Valentina Bellè Valentina Bellè (born 16 April 1992) is an Italian actress. Biography Born in Verona from an Italian father and a German mother, as a child she showed interest in art and studied acting. After finishing high school, Valentina worked as a model, ...

as Giuseppina Pesce * Barbara Chichiarelli as Anna Colace * Francesco Colella as Carlo Cosco * Simona Distefano as Concetta Cacciola * Andrea Dodero as Carmine *

Micaela Ramazzotti Micaela Ramazzotti (born 17 January 1979) is an Italian actress. Her film credits include ''Non prendere impegni stasera'', '' The First Beautiful Thing'' and '' The Big Heart of the Girls''. Ramazzotti was a regular cast member of the show '' C ...

as Lea Garofalo * Andrea Riso as Enrico

Episodes

Production

On 15 April 2021,

confirmed the production of its

Star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

Original series ''The Good Mothers''. This series was part of Disney+ and Star's first European originals productions.

Release

The first 2 episodes of the series were screened at

in Berlinale Series on 21 February 2023. It began streaming on 5 April 2023 internationally on

and on

in the United States.

Reception

Critical response

The

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website

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reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 8.00/10, based on 7 critic reviews. Joel Keller of ''

Decider Decider is both a real word and a "Bushism". It may refer to: * ''Decider'' (website), a pop culture website operated by the ''New York Post'' *'' Bill Maher: The Decider'', a stand-up comedy special * Decider (Turing machine), a Turing machine th ...

'' asserted, "The first episode of ''The Good Mothers'' sets up a powerful story of an unheard faction of the ‘Ndrangheta families that stood up and helped to bring them down." Jasper Rees of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' gave the series a grade of 5 out of 5 stars, called it a "superb adaptation" of Alex Perry's book, and said that each episode is "compelling." Nick Clark of ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' gave ''The Good Mothers'' a grade of 4 out of 5 stars, writing, "A gritty, Italian-language mafia drama may not have been an obvious gap in his CV, but this is expertly handled. Its beautifully shot, and thrillingly tense. Search it out, mamma mia this is good."

Accolades

References

External links

*
''The Good Mothers''
at Berlinale
''The Good Mothers''
at Cineuropa {{DEFAULTSORT:Good Mothers, The 2023 Italian television series debuts 2023 British television series debuts 2023 Italian television series endings 2023 British television series endings Italian-language television shows Star (Disney+) original programming Television shows set in Calabria Television shows set in Milan Television series based on books Television series based on actual events Television series by BBC Studios Television series by Fremantle (company) Italian crime television series 2020s Italian drama television series Television series about organized crime Works about organized crime in Italy 2020s British drama television series Television series set in 2010 Works about the 'Ndrangheta