Steal Review: Serves A Sleek Binge, Flaws Included

BOTTOM LINE
Serves A Sleek Binge, Flaws Included

PLATFORM
PRIME VIDEO

RUNTIME
4 hours 49 minutes| 6 Episodes

What Is the Film About?

In this high-stakes British thriller, Sophie Turner stars as Zara Dunne, a disillusioned data processor at the London investment firm Lochmill Capital. Her mundane life is shattered when armed thieves storm the office, taking the staff hostage. Zara and her colleague Luke (Archie Madekwe) are forced at gunpoint to transfer £4 billion in pension funds into untraceable offshore accounts.

The “victim” status of the duo quickly blurs as it’s revealed they were inside collaborators promised a multi-million-pound payout. However, as the criminals vanish and Luke is kidnapped, Zara must navigate a web of betrayal. Teaming up with a debt-ridden detective (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd), she uncovers a massive conspiracy involving MI5 and corporate corruption.

Performances

Sophie Turner carries a sizeable portion of Steal on her talented shoulders. The show does a pretty good job of showcasing the actress’s acting prowess and range, which was also needed in the post-GOT period. Turner needed something solid to prove that she can act, and she does a commendable job as the troubled, morally conflicted, emotionally messy, pragmatic, yet adaptable and resilient Zara.

Turner delivers a performance rooted in a jittery, high-strung realism. When the heist begins, her transition from a terrified hostage to a calculating strategist is seamless. Throughout the six episodes, we are never quite sure whether her shocking expressions or tears are a survival tactic or genuine remorse. It is her most physical role to date, requiring a gruelling mix of frantic action and quiet, internal processing that keeps the audience questioning her morality until the final frame.

Turner’s on-screen chemistry with Archie Madekwe (Luke) looks good and natural. He brings a lot of heart and emotion that balances out Turner’s colder, more practical character. Madekwe feels like a regular guy stuck in a total nightmare, and his frantic energy makes the whole situation feel much more intense.

On the other hand, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd brings a totally different energy as DCI Rhys Covaci. Even though he’s playing a cop buried in debt, he stays away from those boring, grumpy, serious detective tropes. Instead, he gives the character a tired, emotionally burdened and sarcastic sense of humour that actually feels fresh. Fortune-Lloyd’s scenes with Sophie Turner are some of the best moments of the show.

Analysis

Steal (created by Sotiris Nikias) starts confidently as more of an evolution of the heist genre, before dragging a little and kind of losing its way in the middle, but it comes back on track just at the right time during the final two episodes.

The choice to start with a standard hostage situation and slowly peel back the layers to reveal a corporate conspiracy is one of the strongest elements of the show. It successfully moves from a claustrophobic office thriller to an expanding political drama, making the stakes feel personal yet massive.

However, there are a couple of moments where Zara’s sudden ability to outmanoeuvre intelligence agencies doesn’t quite land cleanly.

The direction from Sam Miller and Hettie Macdonald is sleek and distinctly British, utilising the cold, oppressive architecture of London’s financial district to mirror Zara’s internal state. The first three episodes helmed by Miller appear tighter in terms of pacing and tone compared to the remaining episodes directed by Macdonald.

Miller uses plenty of shaky, handheld shots to capture the panic, threat, and fear of the characters during the heist, as well as the characters’ internal emotional struggle after the heist. His direction comes through best during the quieter moments of the heist, particularly the elevator sequence and Luke’s apartment scenes in Episode 2.

The first two episodes don’t lose steam and maintain tension, effectively trapping the viewer in the office along with the characters.

On the other hand, Macdonald slows down the pace in Episode 4, which works against the show as it begins to lose momentum. During these episodes, we also witness some romantic sparks flying between Zara and Rhys, a subplot that feels a bit clichéd and forced. That said, the way Zara figures out why she found herself in the middle of all the chaos, and why she was chosen as the perfect “fall guy”, is handled well.

Despite being only six episodes long, Steal hits a bit of a lag in the middle episodes, a common problem with thriller shows nowadays. Still, it works well for binge-watching.

As the show rushes to tie up multiple threads involving MI5 and the internal corporate politics of Lochmill Capital, some of the emotional beats, particularly the fallout between Zara and Luke, feel a bit rushed.

In terms of dialogue, Steal does the job well, as it avoids the melodramatic “villain monologues” often found in Prime Video thrillers, opting instead for a dry, cynical wit. Zara’s lines are peppered with the exhaustion of a Gen Z worker who has realised the system is rigged, making her dialogue feel incredibly grounded. The verbal sparring between Zara and Detective Miller is particularly sharp, filled with subtext and “chess-match” energy.

That said, the technical “hacker” and “financial” jargon can get a bit thick at times. While it adds to the authenticity, casual viewers might find themselves lost in the talk of offshore ledgers and encrypted data packets if they aren’t paying close attention.

Moreover, the overreliance on extreme close-up shots, particularly during the personal scenes between Zara and her mother, looks a little messy. While intended to show intimacy, the tight framing and vibrating camera often cause motion sickness and hide the actors’ body language. This forced “indie” style clashes with the sleek thriller vibe, making the drama feel claustrophobic rather than emotional.

The series doesn’t rely on too many plot twists, leaning instead towards the high stakes, tension, emotional turmoil, and fear experienced by the characters and carried through the overall storyline. That said, the twists we do get land well.

Overall, Steal is a gritty and confident British heist thriller anchored by Sophie Turner’s powerhouse performance as the morally complex Zara Dunne. The series smartly evolves from a claustrophobic office robbery into a sprawling corporate conspiracy. While the neon noir visuals and dry dialogue excel, the show suffers from a divisive, repetitive techno score and shaky-cam close-ups that feel haphazard.

Pacing lags in the middle due to forced subplots, but strong turns from Jacob Fortune-Lloyd and Anastasia Hille keep the stakes high. Overall, it’s a sleek, binge-worthy entry into the genre.

Performances by Others Actors

The rest of the ensemble in Steal looks quite comfortable in their respective roles, although they needed more screen time and depth for their characters to connect with us more strongly. That said, they get the job done by the time the series culminates.

The bad guys introduced in the debut episode look chilling, calculated, cunning, and ruthless. They succeed in making the office environment feel as claustrophobic and dangerous as the heist itself, ensuring that even when the action moves to the streets of London, the shadow of corporate corruption looms large.

The most surprising performance comes from Andrew Koji, who is better known for his action- and martial arts-based roles. He plays the brainy financial investigator, Darren Yoshida, with calm assurance, coming across as strategic, cool-headed, and smart enough to figure out what is really going on.

Anastasia Hille as Haley Dunne (an alcoholic and greedy psychiatric nurse, and Zara’s mother) stands out as another brilliant performer in the series. She plays a vicious, cunning, venom-spitting figure who doesn’t give a damn about her daughter and wants her money by whatever means necessary.

Her altercations with Zara help tighten the series in terms of tone and engagement. There are two or three moments where she comes close to overshadowing Turner. Hille’s performance adds a higher-stakes, emotional edge to the series.

Andrew Howard as Sniper looks quite comfortable as the violent and hot-headed rogue member of London’s team. He brings some much-needed intensity and danger to the heist crew.

However, the rest of the crew members, despite looking intriguing, needed more screen time, as they more or less vanish after the first episode. Jonathan Slinger (London), in particular, clearly deserved more screen presence. His portrayal of the creepily polite, soulless, and dangerous leader of the crew immediately grabs our attention in the opening episode. Slinger is such an underrated performer, and his increased presence would have made the show even more enjoyable.

Music and Other Departments?

The biggest drawback of Steal is the score provided by Martin Phipps (known for his work on Netflix’s The Crown). Phipps leans into a relentless, pulsating techno-industrial beat that defines the show’s high-octane identity, but he relies on it so heavily that by the time we reach the fourth or fifth episode, the score starts to irritate. It also occasionally buries the dialogue and gives the overall score a one-note feel.

The production team excels at making the Lochmill Capital offices feel like a character of their own. The sound design is crisp, too. The metallic clack of keyboards and the muffled echoes of the London streets provide a grounded, ASMR-like realism that contrasts sharply with the chaotic heist moments.

The show is actually pretty smart in how it uses colour. It starts off with washed-out, “autumn” tones to show how depressed and bored Zara is with her life. As the conspiracy deepens, the lighting flips to a high-contrast “neon noir” style that looks genuinely striking.

However, like a lot of modern streaming shows, some of the night scenes are so under-lit that you’ll find yourself squinting at the screen, trying to figure out what’s actually happening.

Highlights?

Sophie Turner’s Powerhouse Performance

Impressive support from Anastasia Hille, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, and Andrew Koji

Sharp, grounded dialogue

Sleek production and good use of lighting

Good start and finish

Drawbacks?

Irritating musical score

Overdependence on extreme close-up shots in personal scenes

Mid-season drag and forced romantic subplot

Underused ensemble

Did I Enjoy It?

Mostly, especially for Sophie Turner’s gritty performance and the smart way the story evolves from a simple heist into a massive conspiracy. Even though the middle drags a bit and the music got on my nerves, the sharp dialogue and tense finale made it a great ride.

Will You Recommend It?

Yeah, but be prepared to overlook some distracting camera work and a very loud soundtrack. Steal’s a sleek, binge-worthy show that’s well worth your time despite those technical flaws.

Steal Web Series Reviewed by M9 News

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