Ewan McGregor's $9.7M Spy Thriller Accurately Depicted The Russian Mafia That Expert Called 1 Clip "Most Dangerous & The Scariest"

Ewan McGregor's spy thriller accurately depicts the Russian mafia in one clip that an expert calls the "most dangerous and the scariest." The Scottish actor is widely known for his portrayal of the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy – including The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith – which grossed nearly $2 billion combined at the box office from 1999 to 2005. In 2022, Ewan McGregor reprised the role in the Disney+ miniseries, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Outside Star Wars, McGregor has showcased his versatility in films from a wide range of genres, starting with his breakout role as a drug addict in Trainspotting. He went on to star in the musical Moulin Rouge!, the war movie Black Hawk Down, the fantasy drama Big Fish, the thriller Angels and Demons, the LGBTQ-romantic comedy I Love You Phillip Morris, the supernatural horror Doctor Sleep, and the DC movie Birds of Prey. In 2016, McGregor starred in the lone spy thriller of his career, Our Kind of Traitor, which made only $9.7 million at the box office.

Our Kind Of Traitor Accurately Depicts The Russian Mafia

An Expert Called 1 Clip The "Most Dangerous & The Scariest"

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Ewan McGregor's spy thriller, Our Kind of Traitor, accurately depicts the Russian mafia in one clip that an expert calls the "most dangerous and the scariest." Directed by Susanna White and written by the Oscar-nominated Hossein Amini based on John le Carré's 2010 novel of the same name, the 2016 spy thriller follows a couple who becomes entangled in a Russian oligarch's scheme to defect, finding themselves caught between the Russian Mafia and the British Secret Service, both of whom prove untrustworthy. The movie stars Ewan McGregor, Naomie Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, Damian Lewis and Alicia von Rittberg.

Related 15 Best Movies Like James Bond It can be hard to find stories in movies that are like James Bond's adventures but these similar films deliver all of the same thrills and intrigue.

In a new video from Insider, a former CIA agent and Russian mafia investigator, Joe Serio, rated Russian mob scenes in movies and TV for realism, including their global reach and influence as depicted in Ewan McGregor's Our Kind of Traitor. Serio also discussed the connection to the real-life mob boss, Semion Mogilevich. Overall, for the "fear factor," Serio rated the clip a 9/10. Read his full comments or watch the portion of the video below:

The major driver behind this movie is the relationship and the machinations between a large Russian money launderer and UK officials, politicians, intelligence community, but the fact of the matter is that this is highly dangerous and if you look at the money laundering and just look at the scandal of the Bank of New York in 1999. Semion Mogilevich, when you look at Semion Mogilevich, he's been involved and he's a friend of Putin's and he's protected by Putin and when I was the director of the Moscow office of the world's leading corporate investigation and business intelligence firm, I realized that all of our biggest cases were somehow tied to Semion Mogilevich – bribing officials, human trafficking, smuggling weapons, drug trafficking. The Bank of New York scandal, there's the whole package right there and you start to see a little bit of the game that gets played and how complex it is and how many people are involved. So this piece is the most dangerous and the scariest clip you've shown me. In this clip, the big issue is to what extent have Western politicians been corrupted by the massive amount of money that the Russians have and the short answer is, maybe nobody wants to hear this, but there's so much money. There's so much corruption across Europe, the United States due to Russian mafia money, Russian government money. There have been top law enforcement officials in the US who retired and then went to work for Russian oligarchs, which on the surface of it may not be anything, but it doesn't look good, it doesn't smell good. We can talk about blood and we can talk about guns and we can talk about knives, but the scariest clip is when the politicians start taking lots of money and being influenced. It's no surprise that Russia has a huge interest in destabilizing the West. It's been going on forever and especially under the current regime, they are trying their best to undermine, take advantage of any weaknesses in the European block and in the United States to undermine democracy. Obviously on the face of it, it doesn't look like a scary clip but for the fear factor, I got to give this like a nine out of 10.

Corruption Is Sometimes Scarier Than Violence

Expert Joe Serio discusses how one scene in Our Kind of Traitor emphasizes the global influence and intricate corruption of the Russian mafia, which he views as much scarier than any depiction of violence. He discusses the real-life mob boss Semion Mogilevich's deep ties to Russian leadership, massive money laundering, and crimes like bribery and trafficking. He also critiques Western complicity, noting how corrupt politicians are swayed by Russian funds and former U.S. officials work for oligarchs. Instead of action, Our Kind of Traitor sources its spy movie thrills through a chilling portrait of how such corruption can undermine democracy.

Our Kind of Traitor is streaming for free on Plex, The Roku Channel, and Tubi.

Source: Insider