“When I watch a movie,” says Stefano Sollima, “if I see a gruesome detail, if it makes sense to be brutal, if it's honest and done in good faith—it makes everything more real.” And few mainstream action filmmakers working are quite as willing to get as brutal as Sollima. Blunt, visceral, unexpected violence—with guns, bombs, and, in one memorable instance, a giant Italian pig—has become a trademark of his filmmaking over the last decade.

The Italian director has carved out a career investigating and depicting the dangerous underbellies of major crime families and organizations, examining both the corruption of politics and the seedy international shipments of narcotics.