Review

Mussolini, the Rock Star Antihero

A new historical drama chronicles the birth of fascism as seen through the eyes of Il Duce himself. October 10, 2025, 2:30 PM Comment icon View Comments ( )

Luca Marinelli as Benito Mussolini in a film still.

In the opening scene of Mussolini: Son of the Century , a miniseries about the rise of Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator-to-be stands on a dimly lit stage. There, he announces the formation of the Fasci di Combattimento, the paramilitary heart and muscle of what would eventually become the National Fascist Party.

Speaking to a hall full of veterans of the Great War, recounts the Italian version of the Dolchstosslegende —the Nazi myth that Germany’s defeat in World War I was the work of traitors at home. Mussolini, playe

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