It's a crime drama set in modern times in Antwerp, Belgium. It follows a Haredi Jewish family engaged in the diamond trade in Antwerp who are going through tough times.
The Wolfson family operates a third-generation diamond trading company in Antwerp's diamond district. Ezra Wolfson (Dudu Fisher) is the patriarch, but three of his four children now run the business. They are Eli (Robbie Cleiren), Adina (Ini Massez), and Yanki (Vincent van Sande). However, Yanki commits suicide and has disgraced the family because of his addictions and criminal connections. This sad event brings home from London, England, the family's black sheep, Noah (Kevin Janssens). Noah left his Hasidic Jewish family 15 years earlier. His English wife has died, but he has a son, Tommy (Casper Knopf), and a strong-willed mother-in-law, Kerra (Tine Joustra).
Noah is a skilled talker but highly impulsive. He's in love with Yanki's widow, Gila (Marie Vinck). Eli nominally runs the family business but is doing a lousy job. "Rough Diamonds" follows Noah, Adina, and Eli as they try to thread a safe path through gangsters connected to Noah's mother-in-law and to find a means to salvage the family business's future. They weave through numerous legal perils while pursued by an aggressive prosecutor, Jo Smets (Els Dottermans). The Wolfson family stumbles to the end, but not without significant consequences.
"Rough Diamonds" is a fairly standard crime thriller. Everyone lies, makes promises, and agrees to hare-brained schemes without much rationality. The overall plot is interesting enough, but not novel, and caused my eyes to roll more than once. What fascinated me most was the frequent inclusion of Hasidic Jewish religious rituals as a backdrop to the action. Indeed, the series ending had faint similarities to "The Godfather."
The series is decent "entertainment" if you have six-plus hours to devote to it.
The Wolfson family operates a third-generation diamond trading company in Antwerp's diamond district. Ezra Wolfson (Dudu Fisher) is the patriarch, but three of his four children now run the business. They are Eli (Robbie Cleiren), Adina (Ini Massez), and Yanki (Vincent van Sande). However, Yanki commits suicide and has disgraced the family because of his addictions and criminal connections. This sad event brings home from London, England, the family's black sheep, Noah (Kevin Janssens). Noah left his Hasidic Jewish family 15 years earlier. His English wife has died, but he has a son, Tommy (Casper Knopf), and a strong-willed mother-in-law, Kerra (Tine Joustra).
Noah is a skilled talker but highly impulsive. He's in love with Yanki's widow, Gila (Marie Vinck). Eli nominally runs the family business but is doing a lousy job. "Rough Diamonds" follows Noah, Adina, and Eli as they try to thread a safe path through gangsters connected to Noah's mother-in-law and to find a means to salvage the family business's future. They weave through numerous legal perils while pursued by an aggressive prosecutor, Jo Smets (Els Dottermans). The Wolfson family stumbles to the end, but not without significant consequences.
"Rough Diamonds" is a fairly standard crime thriller. Everyone lies, makes promises, and agrees to hare-brained schemes without much rationality. The overall plot is interesting enough, but not novel, and caused my eyes to roll more than once. What fascinated me most was the frequent inclusion of Hasidic Jewish religious rituals as a backdrop to the action. Indeed, the series ending had faint similarities to "The Godfather."
The series is decent "entertainment" if you have six-plus hours to devote to it.