Daniel Syrkin is a thriller specialist whose care with language is worth taking seriously. We are more cautious about the results: MobLand offers entertaining company, but its familiar plotting leaves too much work to the cast.
Fi1m perspective
In MobLand (2025), Tom Hardy's fixer can keep us interested even when the plotting gives him little help. We enjoyed his company, then grew impatient when the pace dropped and the thinner supporting characters gave us little else to follow. That is a qualified pleasure, and a fair starting point for considering Daniel Syrkin's work. He is one of several directors here, so neither the entertainment nor the sluggishness can simply be assigned to him.
Syrkin's feature breakthrough was Out of Sight (2006), followed by a substantial career directing television. The Gordin Cell (2012), which he co-created and directed, helped establish his work in espionage; Tehran (2020) continued that interest across multiple seasons. On the latter, his credits include script editing as well as direction. His involvement with the words is worth considering alongside his work with the actors.
For Tehran, Syrkin learned Farsi so that he could understand the actors, and cast performers who spoke the language. We value that practical effort, particularly in a genre where a hesitation or an evasive answer can matter as much as an action sequence. It gives actors a better chance of making dialogue sound like speech. We would still judge the finished scene by its tension and clarity, not by the preparation required to make it.
MobLand tests a different skill: keeping familiar gangster material moving. Syrkin shares directing duties with Guy Ritchie, Anthony Byrne and Lawrence Gough, and the sharp suits, violence and black humour are recognisable ingredients. We have no objection to any of them. The trouble is how often star presence has to sustain scenes that need more particular wants, or supporting characters worth following.
The series remains decent company for those who enjoy broad performances and know this genre well. It also puts a limit on how strongly we can recommend Syrkin from this work alone. His attention to language is encouraging, but here the more pressing need is for characters whose next decision interests us. Try MobLand for Hardy, with some patience for the slow start.
Biography
Daniel Syrkin is an Israeli film and television director and screenwriter. Born on 4 March 1971 in Moscow, he immigrated to Israel as a baby and graduated from the Tel Aviv University School of Cinema.
He directed the spy thriller series Tehran (2020) and episodes of the crime drama MobLand (2025). His feature film Out of Sight (2006, also known as Lemarit Ain) won the Israeli Academy Award for Best Director and screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
Syrkin has directed numerous other Israeli television series and documentaries, receiving multiple Israeli Academy Awards for his work.
