Piranhas

Piranhas (La paranza dei bambini, 2019) is an Italian crime drama you can watch online on iFILM. Six teenagers tear through the alleys of Naples' Sanità district on scooters, chasing designer sneakers and street power instead of homework.

Fifteen-year-old Nicola is the sharpest of the pack. He watches the aging bosses lose their grip and decides to take what they have, pulling together a crew of kids armed with pistols and assault rifles. They fire from rooftops, push drugs, carve up the neighborhood block by block. Whoever rules today can be gone tomorrow, and Nicola learns that the hard way once his girlfriend drags him into a corner he cannot fight out of.

Director Claudio Giovannesi adapted Roberto Saviano's novel — Saviano of Gomorrah — and walked off with the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay in Berlin. There is no glamour here, just children acting out a grown-up war. Bleak, fast, and worth it if you want street-level neorealism with teeth. Stream Piranhas (2019) online on iFILM.