Portobello

Marco Bellocchio's miniseries dramatizing the infamous real-life trial of Italian television host Enzo Tortora received largely positive reviews from critics. Many praised the HBO Max original series as a masterful true-crime saga that offers a timely study of an Italian miscarriage of justice. Reviewers highlighted how the show effectively captures the absurd circus of the judicial system and the accusatory media environment surrounding Tortora's wrongful arrest.

Critiques favorably compared the courtroom sequences and mob atmosphere to Bellocchio's previous work, such as his acclaimed mafia film The Traitor. The series was commended for cleverly crosscutting between the glitzy world of 1980s primetime television, represented by Fabrizio Gifuni's portrayal of Tortora, and the chaotic machinations of Camorra informants and prisoners.

However, reception was not entirely unanimous. While several outlets hailed the series as a brilliant depiction of justice framed as an absurdist comedy, a few reviewers found the execution surprisingly dull and slow-paced despite the outlandish nature of the case. Others noted that the show presents Tortora in an unquestioned, heroic light without digging too deeply into institutional culpability.