The Kingdom Explores Power, Legacy, and the Weight of Family in Corsica’s Underworld - Review

Lesia and Pierre-Paul face bloodlines and bullets in Julien Colonna’s gripping debut The Kingdom.

When it comes to mob movies, we’ve seen it all—coming-of-age stories, family sagas, lone wolves on the run. But The Kingdom, the debut feature from Julien Colonna, slices into the genre with raw intimacy and a staggering emotional weight, reminding us why stories about life on the other side of the law never lose their grip.

Starring Ghjuvana Benedetti and Saveriu Santucci as daughter and father, The Kingdom doesn’t just flirt with crime drama—it embeds itself in the culture, power, and terror of a Corsican underworld rarely seen in cinema. Santucci’s Pierre-Paul isn’t just a mob boss; he’s a political force, a myth, and a monster dressed in human pain. But this story isn’t about his empire—it’s about his daughter, Lesia, and the impossible coming-of-age she experiences in his violent shadow.

This is not your typical mafia tale. Colonna ditches the stylized cool of American gangster flicks for something grittier, more tactile, and emotionally devastating. It feels closer to The Wire than Goodfellas, with a thick, generational atmosphere that weighs down every shot. It’s not just about hits and schemes—it’s about hiding in plain sight, about young girls growing up with bodyguards and nightmares, about privilege tainted by blood.

And it’s that intimacy—watching Lesia try to reclaim some sense of childhood while standing next to a man who’s been marked for death her entire life—that turns The Kingdom into a revelation. We don’t just see the violence—we feel its ripple effects in every stolen moment between father and daughter, every awkward silence, every unspoken fear.

Filmed over three years with mostly non-actors, The Kingdom is a staggering achievement in independent cinema. It’s beautifully shot, deeply felt, and full of the kind of scenes other mob movies are too afraid to show. It’s about parenting, survival, and how badly men screw things up even when they think they’re doing the right thing.

Explosions? Hits? Betrayals? Yeah, it’s all here. But The Kingdom dares to ask the bigger question: what happens to the daughters of kings who rule by blood?

This is my first 5/5 of the year. Mob movie of the year. Maybe one of the year’s best, period. Don’t sleep on this one.

Directed by: Julien COLONNA

Screenplay: Julien COLONNA et Jeanne HERRY