The Troubles may be over, but there’s still plenty of trouble to go around in Ireland, as this acclaimed Dublin-set crime drama can attest to. The brilliantly bleak Kin is streaming in Australia right now on SBS on Demand.
Kin stars Game of Thrones’ Aiden Gillen, who also featured in that other top-tier Irish crime drama, Love/Hate, as crime family patriarch Frank Kinsella. He rules the streets with both an iron fist and the help of his son, Eric (Sam Keeley), and nephews Jimmy (Emmett J Scanlan) and Michael (Charlie Cox), the latter of whom has just been released from prison after a long stretch for murder.
However, when Jimmy’s son is killed by a thug working for Eamon Cunningham (Ciaran Hinds), Dublin’s biggest drug dealer, the scene is set for an explosive and bloody mob war, as Jimmy and his wife, Amanda (Clare Dunne), demand vengeance. What’s worse, hotheaded Eric “the Viking” is likely to ensure that a peaceful solution is not possible.
Like the aforementioned Love/Hate and fare like Dublin Murders and Hidden Assets, Kin is part of a new wave of crime drama currently sweeping Irish television. Packed with conflicted loyalties, dark secrets, and ruthless betrayals, it’s a twisty, nerve-wracking exercise in paranoia and mounting tension.
Maria Doyle Kennedy, Yasmin Seky, Francis Magee, and Danielle Galligan round out the main cast, and the performances across the board are top notch. It’s especially fun to see Marvel’s Daredevil, Charlie Cox, flex his acting muscles as the conflicted and PTSD-addled Michael, whose dreams of a quiet life with his currently estranged daughter are scuppered by the gang war his familial loyalties demand he fight.
For his part, Gillen delivers a captivating turn as the icy Frank, who knows the family is hopelessly outgunned by Cunningham’s massive mob. If you’re in the mood for a different flavour of crime thriller, be sure to give this one a craic.
