Legend

Legend has quietly become one of the more dependable crime dramas currently available in Australia on Stan and Britbox Apple TV Channel , and in the US on YouTube TV. It knows exactly what kind of film it is from the opening scene, and never loses that thread. With 4,322 viewer ratings on TMDB, this is not a title flying under the radar. Watch Tom Hardy work — the performance is a masterclass in restraint. Put it on tonight on Stan and see for yourself.

Legend is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that focus is exactly what makes it work. The plotting gives Legend its backbone, but it is the characters you come back for. Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detective Leonard "Nipper" Read hot on their heels, the brothers continue their rapid rise to power and achieve tabloid notoriety. Tom Hardy and Emily Browning lead a cast that never lets the mystery feel thin. Legend came out in 2015. Legend is at its best in the quiet scenes between the plot beats, where the character work actually happens. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

If you cannot walk away from a good mystery, Legend will keep you hooked. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. Tom Hardy anchors it, but the writing does the real work. If you are going to commit to one crime drama this month, make it this one.