10 hours ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
‘Mafia' Review: Balkanized Crime on Viaplay
The scenario that unfolds in the six-part 'Mafia' might ring an alarm bell—immigrant gangs from troubled countries importing bank robbery, smuggling and violence into a civilized Western nation. A Kristi Noem PSA? No, Sweden in the '90s.
This Nordic Noir-ish thriller sets itself up well before the breakup of Yugoslavia, when the country was already sending proxies—'agents' might be overdoing it—into democracies like Sweden in search of the money needed to prop up a failing regime. But with Croatia's declaration of independence in 1991, and Eastern European nationalism on the rise, the criminal organizations themselves become balkanized, pun intended, and the opportunities in Stockholm both open and close. The trick is knowing whom to cultivate, and whom to kill.
