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The new Netflix show House of Guinness appears to have everything: a top-notch cast, sumptuous cinematography and a story billed as a cross between Succession and Peaky Blinders, a combination that has made the drama a ratings hit and garnered rave reviews.
American and British critics have lauded the tale of the brewing dynasty as a stylish and entertaining romp through 1860s Dublin. “Irresistible,” said the Guardian. “Plenty of people will happily gulp it down,” said the BBC. “Good craic,” said the Los Angeles Times.
The eight-part show debuted this week with 89% audience approval on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and a parade of lavish profiles of the real Guinness family in magazines such as Tatler and Vogue.
There is, however, a snag: Irish critics hate it. They hate the depiction of Ireland’s history, hate the dialogue, hate the costumes, hate the lighting. Netflix announced that it was the first show to have Irish subtitles and still Irish critics hate it.
The Irish Times review lamented the show’s “rudimentary understanding of Ireland’s experiences of colonialism” and “stunning lack of appreciation for who the Anglo-Irish were and where they fit (or didn’t) into Irish society”.
It said the heart-throb hard man, played by the English actor James Norton, sounded like “a steampunk Mr Tayto” – a reference to an Irish crisp brand mascot – and that the revolutionaries, the Fenians, “dress and speak like feral leprechauns”.
The Irish Independent said the show was a “shocker” that frittered away any sense of authenticity. “The cliches arrive thick and fast. Put it this way: a lot of letters are crumpled up and thrown into a lot of fires.”
It complained that characters swore too much for credibility and that the story mangled history. “The producers do point out that their series is fiction, but then the majority of our popular history is fiction, and quite dangerous fiction at that. We don’t need any more of it.”
The series, which bills itself as fiction inspired by a true story, is loosely based on the fact that a Guinness patriarch died in 1868, leaving his four adult children to take over a brewing empire that dominated inner-city Dublin and exported beer around the world.
Steven Knight, the creator of Peaky Blinders, filmed most of the new show in Liverpool with a mix of mainly Irish and British actors. He soundtracked the action with thumping, contemporary Irish bands including Fontaines DC and Kneecap.
The Guardian gave it five stars. National Public Radio’s review said Knight knew exactly how to bring period dramas to life. Its only grumble was that some accents were hard to understand. “But the story, and the intrigue – those translate perfectly.”
Irish critics have long despaired of actors who traduce Irish accents – Brad Pitt’s rendition of an IRA man in The Devil’s Own is especially notorious – but the House of Guinness cast has largely escaped censure on this score. Notwithstanding the Mr Tayto jibe, Norton’s performance and accent won praise. So did the soundtrack and the big-budget sets.
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However, the depiction of Ireland’s post-famine politics and the underground revolutionaries who sought to overthrow British rule elicited widespread scorn, including on social media. “Who did the costume design?” asked a Reddit contributor. “I’d like to have a word with them. Green doesn’t equal Irish. Why are all the Fenians wearing literal spirit Halloween leprechaun costumes?”
Garron Noone, a comedian and self-styled “Irish cultural police” with more than 2 million followers on TikTok and Instagram, noted the first episode’s alacrity in introducing rebels. “It only takes three minutes and 45 seconds for somebody to shout: ‘Free Ireland from the English!’”
Noone mockingly endorsed a “Guinness-pouring tutorial” scene, plus a funeral brawl. “That is, of course, very true to our culture, though I didn’t see any sandwiches at the funeral, so I will be deducting a couple of points for that.”
Irish critics also cited clunky dialogue and dim lighting and said no amount of explosions and sex could conceal the story’s dullness.
“If it’s pitched as a cross between Succession and Peaky Blinders, then it lacks the comedy of the former and the jeopardy of the latter,” said an Irish Examiner review headlined “all pour, no pint”.
The Irish Times, in perhaps the most withering put-down, cited a sequence purportedly so bad it risked driving Guinness drinkers to a rival stout. “These and other scenes might leave you crying out for a nice cold, creamy pint of Beamish.”
