Dublin, 1868. The Guinness family patriarch is dead, and his four children — each with dark secrets to hide — hold the brewery's fate in their hands.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.8/10
IMDb: 7.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Metacritic: 72
TMDB: 7.5/10
Production
Kudos, Nebulastar
Cast
Anthony Boyle, Louis Partridge, Emily Fairn, Fionn O'Shea, James Norton, Niamh McCormack, Seamus O'Hara, Jack Gleeson, Dervla Kirwan, Michael McElhatton, Danielle Galligan, David Wilmot, Hilda Fay
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, soapy period drama with strong production value and Steven Knight’s knack for family power struggles, but it’s more compelling as a mood piece than as a fully satisfying historical epic. The premise promises succession intrigue, class conflict, and industrial ambition, and it delivers enough of that to keep it watchable, though the writing can lean melodramatic and uneven.
Best for
Viewers who like opulent period dramas about dynasties and inheritance
Fans of slow-burn family power struggles with scandal and secrets
People who enjoy prestige-TV atmosphere more than strict historical fidelity
Skip if
You want fast pacing or tightly plotted storytelling
You prefer historically rigorous dramas over heightened soap opera
You are not interested in aristocratic or industrial family sagas
Overview
House of Guinness has the ingredients of a strong prestige drama: a famous family, a volatile inheritance, and a 19th-century setting that naturally mixes wealth, labor, politics, and private rot. Steven Knight knows how to build a world around ambition and betrayal, and the show benefits from that confidence in tone and texture. It feels expensive, lived-in, and designed to be binged.
Worth noting
What keeps it in the mixed category is that the series seems more interested in intrigue and atmosphere than in deep emotional complexity. The family conflict is the engine, but the characters can feel shaped to serve the plot’s twists rather than fully surprising on their own. When it works, it’s addictive; when it doesn’t, it can feel like a very handsome soap opera.
Bottom line
If you enjoy period dramas where business, bloodline, and scandal are all part of the same inheritance, this is an easy sample. If you want the sharpest version of this genre, you may find it enjoyable but not essential. It looks like the kind of show that rewards patience, especially if future seasons sharpen the political and familial stakes.
2010 · Curator 9.4/10 (246.6K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, PBS, BritBox, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus, WETA+
A polished ensemble period drama built around inheritance, hierarchy, and the pressures of maintaining a family empire.