“The White Tiger” (Netflix)

Based on the novel by Aravind Adiga, this gritty and ethically unmoored study of ambition and deceit, set in modern-day India, exposes the seamy underbelly of the world’s largest democracy, where corruption is rife, and an antiquated caste system offers little hope for advancement to the poor underclass. A determined young man (Adarsh Gourav) is hired by a wealthy landlord (Mahesh Manjrekar) as a chauffeur for his party-hearty son (Rajkummar Rao) and American daughter-in-law (Priyanka Chopra). As the lad observes the couple’s decadent lifestyle, he also studies the family’s underhanded ways. Soon, he holds all the cards to his employer’s future. Since the tone of writer-director Ramin Bahrani’s narrative is one of amoral detachment, mature viewers need to bring careful discernment to bear on it. Skewed values, onscreen and implied violence, sexual situations and banter, pervasive crude language. The Catholic News Service classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.