Parents' Guide to

Ultras

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Violence, sex, drugs, and drinking in soccer hooligan drama.

Movie NR 2020 108 minutes
Ultras Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

  • Ultras Movie: Scene One
  • Ultras Movie: Scene Three
  • Ultras Movie: Scene Four

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What's the Story?

In ULTRAS, Sandro is a legend and a leader in the Apaches, a violent gang of soccer hooligans in Naples. Because of the violence, he's banned from going to the stadium and must report to the police station during every game to prove that he's not causing trouble. While his contemporaries in the gang are as gung-ho as ever, Sandro has grown weary of the life, as he's now pushing 50 and there's a younger crew eager to take over. Sandro is also trying to take on a mentor role with his teen neighbor Angelo, who is beginning to become active in the gang, despite his older brother's death during a riot -- a death Sandro feels partly responsible for. His sense of having outgrown the Apaches is further heightened when Sandro meets and starts dating a woman named Terry, and as their relationship evolves beyond a one-night stand, Sandro starts to envision a different future. However, he finds that escape isn't easy, especially after the younger crew, against the explicit orders of Sandro, go to Rome to riot and wreak havoc during a championship match. Realizing the trouble that Angelo and the others are about to get into, Sandro must go to Rome to put a stop to this.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This movie is a fascinating glimpse into a violent but tight-knit gang of soccer hooligans in Naples. Centered on Sandro, a lifer of the "Apaches" who's pushing 50 and growing increasingly weary of the lifestyle, Ultras does an excellent job of showing how leaving a gang or subculture isn't easy, especially when it's the only life Sandro has known, his fellow aging peers are content to stay and live on their fond recollections of past violent altercations, and old habits die hard. In Angelo, a teen newbie to the gang, Sandro sees a bit of himself, and doesn't want the same thing to happen to Angelo that happened to Angelo's older brother, who was killed during a riot. The cycle of life of this subculture, and its appeal to working-class males, walks the razor-thin line between the romantic appeal and the increasingly pathetic outcome as the years pile up.

There are moments when the movie falls short, when it slips into a kind of lazy sensationalism. For instance, to take his mind off of current romantic difficulties, Sandro snorts a line of cocaine, pops Molly, and then dances to techno. Like the gratuitous sex scenes, it does nothing to move the story or tell us anything about Sandro we don't already know. And that feeling that we're not learning anything new is the biggest problem with Ultras. It's a "gang movie," and while the movie does a fantastic job of capturing the details and nuances in the culture of this particular gang, it isn't really saying anything new.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about violence in movies. Does Ultras glorify soccer hooligans and their violent lifestyles, or is it trying to convey a realistic sense of soccer hooligan culture? Why?

  • Does the movie glorify drug and alcohol use, or is the use by these characters intended to realistically convey the lives of the "Ultras"?

  • What are some other examples of movies or television shows that offer a glimpse into a subculture?

Movie Details

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