--- title: "Succession" year: 2018 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/succession" fi1m_score: 88 critics_score: 77 critics_reviews: 15 published: "2026-09-17T11:58:31.797627+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T11:58:32.657227+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Succession (2018) Created by Jesse Armstrong · MPA TV-MA · Drama, Comedy **Fi1m score: 88** · Critics 77 from 15 reviews *In a sentence:* Four rich children circle a dying man, and the dying man is enjoying it more than they are > Jesse Armstrong’s four-season comedy about a media dynasty fighting over the chair is as well written and acted as any drama we have seen. It is slow to trust you, it repeats itself, and it never asks you to like anyone. We recommend it anyway. ## Synopsis Logan Roy (Brian Cox), founder of the media conglomerate Waystar Royco, turns eighty in New York and is expected to hand the company to his son Kendall (Jeremy Strong). He decides not to. The other children gather for the party: Roman (Kieran Culkin), who has a title and no duties; Siobhan (Sarah Snook), who works in politics and wants nothing to do with the firm; Connor (Alan Ruck), who lives on a ranch. Shiv’s fiancé Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) runs the theme parks and wants promotion. Cousin Greg Hirsch (Nicholas Braun) arrives, sacked from one of those parks, asking for a job. Logan’s wife Marcia (Hiam Abbass) watches everyone. By the end of the first episode Logan has collapsed. ## Review Logan Roy has built a company that owns news channels and theme parks, and he has four children, none of whom he thinks can run it. That is the whole of *Succession*, and Jesse Armstrong spends four seasons and 39 episodes on it without running out of ways for the Roys to hurt each other. It is a comedy in the way [*Peep Show*](https://film.one/tv/peep-show), which Armstrong co-wrote, is a comedy: the jokes are what people say to avoid admitting what they want. We recommend it as strongly as we recommend anything made for television. The cast is the reason to start. Brian Cox plays Logan as a man who barely speaks and terrifies everyone by looking at them a beat too long. Jeremy Strong’s Kendall wants the job and wants his father’s approval and has been told all his life that they are the same thing. Kieran Culkin’s Roman talks constantly so that nobody notices he has said nothing. Sarah Snook’s Shiv believes she is the one who got out, and Alan Ruck’s Connor knows he was never in. Matthew Macfadyen’s Tom is polite to everyone above him and appalling to everyone below, which means Nicholas Braun’s Greg, and their scenes together are the funniest and, later, the most frightening thing in the show. Andrij Parekh, Patrick Capone, Christopher Norr and Katelin Arizmendi shoot it handheld, and the camera pushes in on a face half a second after the person has finished speaking, as though it has caught them checking whether the lie landed. Stephen H. Carter and Kevin Thompson’s production design puts the Roys in rooms nobody chose: hotel suites, glass offices, the back seat of a car, a yacht. Michelle Matland, Catherine George and Laura Popovic dress the men in suits so plain you would need to be rich to know what they cost, and keep Greg in a jacket that does not fit for longer than a kinder show would. Nicholas Britell’s theme sets a formal piano and strings over a drum beat that drags slightly behind them, and the effect is of money that is not quite well. The ten credited editors, Ken Eluto and William Henry among them, cut to the person who has just lost an exchange rather than the one who won it, so a scene about margins plays as a run of small humiliations. Mark Mylod directs a good deal of it; Adam McKay directed the first episode, and the writers Armstrong gathered include Lucy Prebble, Tony Roche, Georgia Pritchett and Jon Brown. The scene that decided it for us comes in that first episode, at a family softball game. Roman offers the groundskeeper’s son a million dollars if he can hit a home run, and the whole family stops to watch. We laughed at the offer. The boy runs, falls short, and Roman tears up the cheque in front of him, and we stopped laughing, because Culkin plays it as a man puzzled that anyone could be upset. Nobody in the family says a word. The joke and the cruelty are the same event. Now the caveats. It is slow to come round. The first three or four episodes are chilly and pleased with themselves, and the show has not yet worked out that Tom and Greg are the way in for anyone who does not care about boardrooms. Then the plot repeats. A child makes a move, Logan crushes it, a season ends; a child makes a move. Last, the show is comfortable in these rooms. It despises the Roys and loves their helicopters, and it rarely cuts to anyone their decisions land on for more than a scene. Some critics found the mix of satire and family drama uneasy; we think the unease is deliberate, and it is why the consensus sits lower than we do. It is a 15, almost entirely for the language, which is inventive enough that we would not want it any other way. Watch it two episodes at a time and no more. Any longer and you start to talk like them, which is funnier in the evening than the next morning. *Fi1m score 88, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics like Succession, and several like it a great deal. The praise clusters on the writing, which is called sharp and tight, and on the cast: Brian Cox as the patriarch Logan Roy is picked out repeatedly, with Matthew Macfadyen’s Tom and Jeremy Strong also named. Critics agree the Roys are monstrous and that the show makes them compelling without asking us to forgive them. Those who followed it past the first series say it improves, with the second run raising the stakes and the finale landing hard. The reservations gather around tone. The Telegraph, Variety and Den of Geek all find the first series lurching between family drama and satire, and Variety thinks the pulpier comedy blunts its points about inherited wealth. The spread is wide, from the middling to the rapturous, but nobody dislikes it; the doubters are mostly writing about early episodes, and the warmest notices come later. ### Reviews we read (15) - **The Guardian** (90/100, inferred): The critic finds the series a brilliant dissection of a dysfunctional mega-rich family dynasty, with Machiavellian characters and sharp dialogue that humanises its monstrous figures without excusing them. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/aug/02/succession-review-brilliant-dissection-mega-rich-family-jesse-armstrong) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Tim Goodman (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the second season searing, hilarious, and emotionally resonant, noting it builds on the first season's strengths with higher stakes. They single out the blend of brutal comedy and drama as a tonal tour de force that makes the show compelling. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/succession-review-2-1229280/) - **The i Paper** (90/100, inferred): The critic hails the finale as a devastating and uncompromising conclusion to one of the best TV series ever made. They single out the visceral final confrontation among the Roy siblings as a standout moment of raw family trauma and betrayal. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/succession-finale-review-fated-despondent-end-best-tv-series-ever-made-2371990) - **The Times**, Carol Midgley (90/100, inferred): The critic gushes that Succession is the best drama seen in years, praising its exceptional quality and character depth in the first series. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/tv-review-succession-the-placebo-experiment-sw8076mxg) - **Vulture** (80/100, inferred): The show delivers a compelling, funny portrait of untrustworthy power players and family machinations through excellent ensemble performances and sharp writing. It excels as an addiction-inducing dramedy despite focusing on the upper class. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2018/06/succession-hbo-review.html) - **The AV Club**, Randall Colburn (B): The series is gripping but uneven, with strong family drama and sharp observations on wealth and power that outweigh its satirical elements. It succeeds more as a high-stakes look at dysfunctional relationships than pure comedy. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-co-writer-of-in-the-loop-makes-wealth-look-ridiculo-1826475033) - **Empire**, James White (75/100, inferred): The show remains compelling despite its negative characters, thanks to sharp writing and cast performances; the season premiere offers darkly funny entertainment value amid family power plays. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/succession-season-2/) - **IndieWire**, Ben Travers (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the HBO series a steadily developing black comedy that offers an incisive takedown of white-collar culture and wealthy family dynamics. Matthew Macfadyen's performance as the bizarre Tom stands out as a highlight. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/succession-review-hbo-adam-mckay-1201969980/) - **The Telegraph** (3/5): Brian Cox excels as the patriarch in this Lear-like family saga, but the episode is hard to love overall because it lurches uneasily between family drama and satire. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2018/08/02/succession-episode-review-brian-cox-excels-lear-like-epic-drama/) - **Variety**, Daniel D'Addario (50/100, inferred): The critic finds the show's strengths and weaknesses closely intertwined, with its pulpy comedy sometimes undermining deeper points about generational wealth. They single out Brian Cox's commanding performance as Logan Roy for setting the tone of family ferocity. [Read](https://variety.com/2018/tv/reviews/succession-review-hbo-1202825301/) - **NME**, Christopher Hooton (85/100, inferred): The critic calls Succession one of the most enjoyable shows on TV, noting its tight scripts, brilliant cast performances especially from Matthew Macfadyen and Jeremy Strong, and its potent mix of comedy and drama that improves in season 2. [Read](https://www.nme.com/features/tv-features/succession-s02-hbo-review-peep-show-2546203) - **Collider**, Allison Keene (★★★★): The critic finds Succession a worthy HBO drama full of power moves and twisted family dynamics that plays like a smart, hilarious realpolitik satire. The quick-zooms and ensemble cast keep the one-percenter excess engaging rather than a drag. [Read](https://collider.com/succession-review/) - **Paste**, Shane Ryan (80/100, inferred): The critic views Succession as the pinnacle of British cynical comedy writing, commending its unflinching portrayal of greed, ambition, and humiliation with no redemption or uplift, crediting creator Jesse Armstrong's background for its sharp worldview. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/article/succession-review) - **The Ringer**, Justin Charity (80/100, inferred): The critic sees Succession as a dark, dramatic counterpart to Arrested Development, depicting the Roy family's ruthless power struggles and unlikable members. He praises its honest portrayal of wealth as repulsive yet compelling, and its insight into Trump-era elitism and family dynamics. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2018/06/03/tv/succession-arrested-development-hbo-netflix-review) - **Den of Geek**, Andrew Husband (3/5): The HBO satire is more dark than comical, effectively indicting the wealthy elite while channeling real-world figures like the Murdochs. The tonal shifts between humor and drama prevent it from fully landing as satire. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/succession-review-hbo-satire-of-wealthy-elite-more-dark-than-comical/) ## Details - **Created by:** Jesse Armstrong - **Creator:** Jesse Armstrong - **Director:** Mark Mylod, Andrij Parekh, Shari Springer Berman, Lorene Scafaria, Robert Pulcini, Becky Martin, Adam Arkin, Kevin Bray, Miguel Arteta, Matt Shakman, SJ Clarkson, Adam McKay, Cathy Yan - **Writer:** Jesse Armstrong, Tony Roche, Georgia Pritchett, Susan Soon He Stanton, Jon Brown, Will Tracy, Lucy Prebble, Jonathan Glatzer, Ted Cohen, Anna Jordan, Mary Laws, Will Arbery - **Cinematography:** Patrick Capone, Christopher Norr, Katelin Arizmendi, Andrij Parekh - **Editor:** Ken Eluto, Jane Rizzo, William Henry, Ellen Tam, Anne McCabe, Brian A. Kates, Venya Bruk, Joe Giganti, Mark Yoshikawa, Suzy Elmiger - **Music:** Nicholas Britell - **Production design:** Stephen H. Carter, Kevin Thompson - **Costume design:** Michelle Matland, Laura Popovic, Catherine George - **Producer:** Gabrielle Mahon, Dara Schnapper, Will Tracy - **Cast:** Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy; Hiam Abbass as Marcia Roy; Kieran Culkin as Roman Roy; Sarah Snook as Siobhan 'Shiv' Roy; Brian Cox as Logan Roy; Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans; Alan Ruck as Connor Roy; Natalie Gold as Rava Roy - **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA - **Release (the US):** 3 June 2018 - **Genres:** Drama, Comedy - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO-XX1UpsqY ## Where to watch in the US - HBO Max: streaming, uhd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Hulu: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd - Apple TV: buy, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy, sd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IS, IT, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TH, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Primetime Emmy Awards 2023: Outstanding Drama Series (won) - Golden Globes 2020: Best Actor – Television Series Drama (won); Best Television Series – Drama (won) - BAFTA Television Awards 2019: Best International Programme (won) - Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Drama Series 2019: Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Drama Series (won) - Primetime Emmy Awards 2019: Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music (won); Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (won) - Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film 2019: Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (won) - Satellite Award for Best Television Series – Drama 2019: Satellite Award for Best Television Series – Drama (won) ## If you liked this - *The Thick of It* (2005), Fi1m 89: Armstrong’s other writers’ room; the same panic and swearing, in Whitehall corridors — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/the-thick-of-it.md) - *The Sopranos* (1999), Fi1m 94: A family business, a difficult father, and children who cannot leave — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/the-sopranos.md) - *Ran* (1985), Fi1m 92: Kurosawa’s Lear: an old warlord divides his land and his sons destroy it — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/ran.md) - *Arrested Development* (2003), Fi1m 87: The same rotten family, played entirely for laughs and just as sharp — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/arrested-development.md) - *Margin Call* (2011), Fi1m 82: One night in a bank as it fails; quiet men in good suits deciding who pays — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/margin-call.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/succession