A real-life former mobster reacts to Johnny Depp’s performance in Black Mass. Set during the 1970s, Black Mass is a biographical drama about Boston-based Irish mafia boss James “Whitey” Bulger. Depp takes on the lead role of Whitey in the film, while Black Mass‘s supporting cast includes Joel Edgerton, Kevin Bacon, Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Sarsgaad, Jesse Plemons, and Dakota Johnson. It was directed by Scott Cooper with an adapted screenplay by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth, based on the book by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill.