This excellent new crime drama from Stefano Sollima, a veteran of Italian TV series Romanzo Criminale and Gamorra, opens on 5th November 2013 – “7 days to the Apocalypse” a subtitle informs us. There, we meet politician Filippo Malfradi (Pierfrancesco Favino), on his way from an important government assembly to a threesome with two prostitutes, one of whom is underage. Simultaneously, we are also introduced to Samurai (Claudio Amendola), a quiet, nondescript man who it transpires is a former right wing terrorist turned crime overlord.

Their two stories collide, of course – along with those of an exasperated events organiser, an ambitious cardinal, an impulsive local hood called Number 8 and Viola, his drug-addict girlfriend. Sollima gently and generously allows each of his characters’ stories to play out, and there is strong work from Favino, as the insatiable politician who finds himself compromised, and also Greta Scarano’s Viola, initially a supporting player who becomes an unexpectedly critical part of the film as it develops.