Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
An aging soccer fanatic faces down the reality of his past while struggling to give himself and a young follower very different futures.
Ultras is an Italian Netflix drama that offers an authentic and immersive look into the ultras subculture of Napoli football fandom. The film benefits from genuine atmosphere and a lived-in sense of place, with non-professional or lesser-known actors lending raw credibility to the performances. Cinematography captures the energy of the terraces and the grey reality of Naples street life with competence. However, the narrative arc — aging hooligan mentoring a younger generation while confronting his own obsolescence — follows a fairly well-worn template of crime/subculture dramas about men trapped by loyalty and identity. The ending feels somewhat abrupt and undercooked, failing to fully pay off the emotional groundwork laid earlier. As a whole it is a solid, worthwhile entry in the subculture drama genre but does not transcend it.