‘Steal’ on Prime is a fast-paced heist thriller you won’t pause

If binge watching was a face-off duel, the frenetic pace of Steal on Amazon Prime will win the draw every time.

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It’s a six-gun with fast fingers, and not since Money Heist has a big-crime thriller been this engaging, exciting and utterly, well, brilliant.

It’s a six-part limited series that rolls out its red carpet inside a pension management firm in London. This is where employee Zara Dunne, played by the immensely talented Sophie Turner, is busy introducing a recruit to the realities of the job.

Then, suddenly, an armed gang hijacks the firm’s trading floor.

Staff are bundled into holding rooms, but the gang and Zara and her colleague Luke, played by Archie Madekwe, are forced to assist in executing financial trades valued at approximately four billion pounds sterling.

Once completed, the bad guys leave as quietly as they arrived, split up, and disappear. But then, the fun and games start.

Villain or heroine. Sophie Turner stars as Zara in ‘Steal’. Picture: Amazon MGM

GOT Sophie Turner stars

At first, Zara was regarded as having played a key role in stabilising the situation during the heist with her cool, calm and collected demeanour, while Luke crumbled.

But, as we learn during the story progression, this was all just a front, a bit of theatre.

Early in the series, it is clear that Zara may have had some involvement in the crime.

As the investigation, led by cop Rhys Kovac, develops, the narrative introduces multiple layers of uncertainty.

There are moving parts upon moving parts to the story, and efforts to establish what occurred and who was responsible are speed-wobbled and Jenga-blocked throughout.

Zara and Luke’s relationship is an early litmus test of the strain of their lie, because as everything unfolds, it turns out that Luke was more involved in the crime than Zara had originally thought, too.

Meanwhile, at their hideout, the cracks are also starting to show in some of the interpersonal relationships among the robbers. Things go off-plan, and while Zara tries to right her course in the one narrative lane, so too do the baddies reset their course.

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Then, there’s Kovac, the investigating police detective. He’s got a love for playing poker that’s also landed him in some serious debt. There’s MI5, the British intelligence service, that sweeps in from the sidelines to probe for dominance.

All the while, beside the massive amount of money that’s been stolen, the motive for the heist remains the big mystery, because it’s only revealed much later, and it’s a helluva twist in the tale.

Compressing this story into six episodes was a brilliant move. It demands a fast-moving, not-a-bored-moment pace that’s not just reflected in the quality of the edit and direction, but the cast performances mirror that energy and sense of urgency, too.

This, combined with well-crafted character depth, a feat in such a short available time, delivers a Goldilocks series. Not too short, not too long, just the right kind of fit for a binge-worthy bit of premium entertainment.

Very binge-worthy

Back to the story, because it’s enthralling. As the investigation progresses and intelligence agents get involved, Kovac and Zara add another emotional twist in the tale.

The pair end up sleeping together and forming a somewhat emotional bond throughout half of the series. It packs a punch to feelings of betrayal, compromised investigating tactics and of course, adds weight to the pressure of the investigator’s gambling debts.

This, because Zara and her involvement in the crime came packaged with a healthy payday.

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There’s a lot of tension in the show, and it goes beyond the plot.

The distance between boss and office worker is eloquently criticised in the background, generational progress and background challenges are unpacked with rapid but followable subtext and the angst of doing the right thing is filtered into the picture.

But it’s not preachy in a US TV method kind of manner. Instead, layers are presented as a matter of fact.

Steal is easy to follow, highly entertaining and refreshing in its approach that does not underestimate an audience’s ability to follow, dissect and immerse themselves in the story intelligently.

This is the kind of show where you will not be on multiple screens at the same time, because it’s highly engaging from the get-go.

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