Traveller from The Gentlemen has starring role in gangster film with near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score

An independent Irish film, which was almost never made, received rave reviews on Rotten Tomatoes thanks to its gritty storyline and down-to-Earth characters.

The movie, which was co-written by John Connors, an Irish traveller, starred as the lead.

You might know him from his role as Car Keys Chris on The Gentlemen.

Made in 2017 and written and directed by Mark O'Connor, the flick scooped up a near perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes at 94 per cent, which is insane.

Five Knight Productions

Cardboard Gangsters follows the story of Jay Connolly (played by Connors) and his group of drug dealers in Darndale, Dublin, as they attempt to overthrow the top dogs in the game.

Unfortunately, those who run Darndale's drug trade have been in power for decades, and they aren’t going to allow a group of low-level petty criminals to overtake their patch.

It’s a pretty tense watch, and not to mention, bleak. But that’s why fans have been raving about its plot.

You can watch the trailer below:

So many have loved the film and praised its gripping storyline and genuine feeling.

One person wrote: "The film is crackingly done, with a bleak humour when needed and a black savagery when not."

While another said: "One of the best movies I've seen this year."

And a third added: "Really excellent movie with a brilliant performance by John Connors."

"Cardboard gangsters on netflix is probably the best thing on there at the minute," said a fourth.

And a fifth added: "Cardboard Gangsters is a superb movie. John Connors has what all good actors must - the ability to be quiet yet show the turmoil inside."

Five Knight Productions

Meanwhile a sixth called it a 'must watch' and one gave it a 10/10.

"Highly recommend Cardboard Gangsters on Netflix. Powerful stuff 10/10 Best I’ve seen in ages," they said.

But did you know that the lead actor faced hardships as a traveller before making his debut?

Years before Connors won the awards for Best Feature Film and Best Actor at the Manchester International Film Festival back in 2017, he had been living in Ireland in a reservation along with 52 first cousins, 20 second cousins, a dozen aunts and uncles and his parents and siblings.

Connors spoke about his upbringing on the podcast, The Two Norries Podcast last year, about what it was like to live in Darnedale as a traveller having to fight his way through life.

YouTube/ The Two Norries Podcast

Although he loved his community, after his father committed suicide, who was schizophrenic, he suffered from intense bullying due to children and adults believing that without a father to protect him, they could get away with mistreating him.

But look at him now!

Cardboard Gangsters is an amazing film with fans and critics loving its grit, but if you’ve not seen it you, you can watch it for free over on YouTube now.

Topics: Film, Ireland, YouTube, TV and Film, Netflix

Britt Jones