A Thousand Blows Review

A Thousand Blows premieres on Hulu Friday, February 21.

A Thousand Blows was always going to be compared to Peaky Blinders. The gritty new historical drama from that show’s creator, Steven Knight, follows a familiar pattern of dramatizing real people from a long-lost time of blood, sweat, and struggles. But rather than following the criminal exploits of a family in post-World War I Birmingham, A Thousand Blows show us what it would be like if Rocky or Creed got a Victorian-era adaptation.

Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) is a man of ambition – a young Jamaican who has just arrived in London with dreams of becoming a lion-tamer. What he gets into instead is far more terrifying. Moscow’s fish-out-of-water story quickly becomes a fight for survival as he, along with his friend Alec Munroe (Francis Lovehall), experiences the barbarity of the city circa 1880 firsthand: racism, unhelpful local bobbies, and the prospect of spending a rough night on the streets. Keen to earn some coin, they find themselves at the Blue Coat Boy, an East London pub that’s also home to an illegal bare-knuckle fighting ring dominated by seasoned fighter Henry “Sugar” Goodson (Stephen Graham).

Cutting an imposing (but suitably short) silhouette, Graham is extraordinary as the rage-filled fighter who hasn’t quite made it to the big leagues. After bulking up significantly for the role, the veteran of Boardwalk Empire and Band of Brothers hits like a truck – in both his onscreen fights as well as his acting. Sugar’s characterization is heavy-handed, but that’s not such a bad thing. This is a brutal man in a brutal world, and Graham metes out rage aplenty both in and out of the ring. There’s nothing overly complicated about Sugar – he’s the king of his own savage kingdom, and he wants everyone to know it.

Graham’s raw performance and chest-beating 19th-century machismo is spot on – he makes it perfectly clear that Henry is a man who won’t be reasoned with. So things get interesting when Hezekiah upstages him in his own ring. Graham’s muscular physique ripples with tension every time he’s onscreen, almost boiling over with rage at the mention of Hezekiah’s name. Kirby, meanwhile, brings a light touch akin to Hezekiah’s fancy footwork in the ring. Sure, he’s no match for Sugar’s brute force, but he’s quick, clever, and determined to make his mark.

It’s as much a clash of wills as a clash of the boxing titans, and if that weren’t enough, Hezekiah’s run-in with a criminal gang provides a thrilling complication in the form of Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), the leader of notorious all-women outfit The Forty Elephants. This puts Hezekiah firmly in her sights as someone whose skills she can use. But their convergence means more to A Thousand Blows: The chemistry between Kirby and Doherty is riveting, and the pair dance around each other with steely fascination. Doherty’s casting as the criminal matriarch lands perfectly, too – she commands the screen with as little as a cutting glance or a quick snap of her sharp tongue. Mary and Hezekiah likely never even met in real life, but her inclusion in this story provides a much-needed twist alongside some pretty thrilling action. With Mary in the mix, you can always count on a gang of thieves and pickpockets to end up dragging our wide-eyed protagonist into the middle of an almighty mess.

There’s a lot to love about A Thousand Blows, even if the heavy atmosphere of its setting is about as far from inviting as you can get. It’s grim, it’s grimy, and it’s an intriguing place to find such a hopeful, ambitious young hero. The attention to detail is superb, too: The world of A Thousand Blows feels real and tangible, with shady taverns hiding intricate details such as period-appropriate boxing posters and commodities. Even the costumes are pitch perfect: Hezekiah’s boxing garb as he climbs the illustrious West End boxing scene perfectly mirrors one of the only known photos of the real Hezekiah Moscow. The first season may only be six episodes long, but it’s an impressive introduction to this murky, thoroughly engrossing world.

A Thousand Blows punches well above its weight. The London streets are bristling with tension as the historical drama takes vast liberties with the lives of the real people they’re depicting. However, it’s all worth it for the violent spectacle – the fight scenes are heavy and visceral, and the confrontations between main characters even more so. Their intertwined stories may not have happened in real life, but the way Hezekiah, Sugar, and Mary bristle up against one another makes for a truly gripping show.