House of Guinness: will you regain a pint from Steven Knight? (critical)

The creator of Peaky Blinders is back on Netflix, for a new historic series. In bubbling Ireland from the end of the 19th century, he recounts the Guinness saga, in the form of a succession in the world of brown beer. Again, it’s refreshing.

He always has the thing to tell fascinating historical dramas.

After A Thousand Blows, who explored the London’s low funds from the 19th century, Steven Knight left England to immerse us in the heart of a bubbling dublin, theater of House of Guinness. His new Netflix series – Online today – tells the saga of the Guinness family, heiress of the famous brewery, while the death of Sir Benjamin leaves his children in front of an explosive heritage. Only Arthur and Edward are designated to take over the family empire, triggering rivalries, resentments and machinations.

Immediately, we think of a succession in costumes: ego struggles, improbable alliances and low blows orchestrated in the shadows. Knight succeeds in avoiding dusty reconstruction thanks to an elegant but resolutely rock aesthetic, enhanced with a modern soundtrack that energizes the genre. The result is pop, almost relaxed, giving an unexpected breath to this historic fresco.

And then the series is not limited to family intrigues. It also embraces the big story, that of Ireland ready to free itself from the English yoke. This dublin in effervescence serves as a backdrop, a rich setting brilliantly painted by the creator and his directors.

However, despite this visual and narrative power, the Guinness children are struggling to take thickness. The intrigues sometimes sound agreed, the rivalries somewhat predictable, and the whole lacks magnetism of a Tommy Shelby. Clearly, we are not in the raw madness of a Peaky Blinders. This historic pint is a little heavier to digest. But it does not lack depth and character. A real Guinness finally.