Roberto Saviano built Gomorrah from his own book, and Sky Atlantic put it on the air in Italy on 6 May 2014. Five seasons and 58 episodes later, it ended on 17 December 2021. The 2008 film shares the book but has nothing to do with the series. This one is its own thing, and it is a cold, patient piece of television.
Trailer, via Nordic Noir & Beyond.
Ciro Di Marzio and the Savastano Clan
The show follows Ciro Di Marzio, played by Marco D’Amore, a member of the Camorra’s Savastano clan in Secondigliano. Pietro Savastano, played by Fortunato Cerlino, runs it. When Pietro is arrested, the clan splits. The old guard fights the young guard, led by Pietro’s son Gennaro, played by Salvatore Esposito. Ciro and Gennaro end up against their own families, working alliances across the Naples underworld.
That structure is the engine. It is not a story about one man’s rise. It is a story about what an organisation does to the people inside it once the top falls off. The show keeps its eye on that, season after season.
Scampia and the Vele
Gomorrah was largely filmed in the Scampia neighbourhood of Naples, shot in the Vele di Scampia. The setting is not decoration. The buildings, the courtyards, the stairwells carry the weight of the story. Parts of the series are loosely inspired by the Scampia feud.
The show also draws its characters from real figures. Gennaro Savastano is modeled on Cosimo Di Lauro. Pietro Savastano is based on the life of Paolo Di Lauro. That grounding gives the crime a specific address, which most gang dramas never bother to find.
The Cast Beyond D’Amore
D’Amore and Esposito hold the centre, but the show’s reach is wider. Ivana Lotito plays Azzurra Avitabile. Arturo Muselli plays Enzo “Sangue Blu.” Mimmo Borrelli plays ‘O Maestrale. Tania Garribba plays Donna Luciana. Carmine Paternoster plays ‘O Munaciello. Nunzia Schiano plays Nunzia. Antonio Ferrante plays ‘O Galantommo.
Marco Palvetti plays Salvatore Conte, a rival crime boss. Later seasons introduce Annalisa Magliocca, Patrizia Santore, Giuseppe Avitabile and Enzo “Sangueblù” Villa. The cast changes as the war changes.
That is the point.
| Element | Gomorrah (2014 series) | The 2008 film |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Saviano’s book | Saviano’s book |
| Relationship | Unrelated to the film | Unrelated to the series |
| Format | 5 seasons, 58 episodes | Feature film |
| Run | 2014–2021 | 2008 |
What the Show Gets Right
Gomorrah has earned critical acclaim for its characterization, pacing, atmosphere, acting, directing and writing. That list is accurate, and the pacing is the hardest part to pull off. The show does not rush a betrayal. It lets the alliances sour slowly, so that when a character turns, you have watched the reasons pile up for hours.
It has also been a ratings hit for Sky, regularly one of the network’s most-watched cable shows. It sold in 190 countries. It premiered in the United Kingdom on Sky Atlantic on 4 August 2014.
The Limits of the Format
Five seasons is a long time to hold a civil war together. The show’s later seasons have to keep introducing new bosses and new alliances, and the machine starts to show. The premise is strong enough to survive it, but not every season lands as hard as the first.
What Gomorrah Is Worth
This is a crime drama that treats its setting as a fact rather than a mood. The Scampia shoot, the Di Lauro models, the Secondigliano clan structure — none of it is there to look authentic. It is there because the story does not work without it. That is rarer than it should be, and it is why Gomorrah holds up against the best of the genre.
The weaker stretches are real. Five seasons of shifting alliances will thin any show. But the core — Ciro, Gennaro, and an organisation eating itself — never goes soft.
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