Prime Video Just Dropped an Impressive 80% RT Thriller That's Hard to Stop Watching

Prime Video's newest series, Steal, is many things. It's a heist thriller for the modern era, swapping out breaking into bank vaults for lifting millions in cryptocurrency. It's another great post-Game of Thrones showcase for Sophie Turner. But the biggest thing that stands out about Steal is its narrative, which is full of twists and turns and moves at a pace that will keep fans hooked throughout its six-episode run. Steal also boasts an impressive 80% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with most of the praise centered around Turner's performance and the way the story unfolds.

Steal begins when Zara (Turner) clocks in for her usual shift at investment firm Lochmill Capital. She's hungover from a night of partying, and things don't get much better when the thieves break in and steal 4 billion pounds. In the aftermath of the robbery, investigators Rhys Covac (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) and Darren Yoshida (Andrew Koji) start digging into the case, while Zara and her best friend/fellow worker Luke (Archie Madekwe) attempt to go on with their lives. The truth behind the robbery is far more complicated, though, and Steal's hook lies in uncovering who's involved.

'Steal' Throws Plot Twist After Plot Twist at the Audience

Steal wastes no time with its plot twists, revealing in the first episode that Zara and Luke were in on the heist as part of an inside job. Every character in the show has something to hide, whether it's Rhys's struggle with gambling debts or the reveal that MI-5 is investigating the case themselves. Another twist involves Rhys and Zara becoming romantically involved, which complicates matters for both of them, given that she's an accomplice to the crime he's investigating. While not every twist in Steal lands as it should, creator S.A. Nikias's skill for scripting entertaining crime thrillers is on full display.

While Steal is a wholly original story, it draws from elements in Nikias' life. Like Zara, he worked at an investment firm and realized it was a prime spot for a robbery, according to an interview with the Radio Times.

"A lot of financial services companies in the City – a lot of money moves through those desktop computers and gets routed all around the world, And it was just the idea of: there's a lot more money in those offices than there is in the average high street bank… and absolutely zero security. So it was basically just imagining my workplace getting robbed...That was the seed of the story. And when I thought of it, I thought oh, this is a really good idea for a thriller."

Nikias also uses Steal's story to comment on late-stage capitalism and the forces that drive people to steal. Zara's workplace isn't just an investment firm; it keeps the money from workers' pensions, meaning that the thieves are literally stealing people's livelihoods. Luke gets swept up in the heist because he wants a better life for himself, and pulls Zara in after her attempts to get promoted fall flat. Introducing this kind of moral complexity gives Steal thematic layers as well as plot-related ones.

Sophie Turner's Working Relationship With Prime Continues Post-'Steal'

Steal wouldn't work without Sophie Turner, who portrays Zara as a flawed yet sympathetic character. It's not hard to look at her life and see why she does what she does; there's only so much the 9-to-5 grind can provide for some people. Yet she also has the most common sense out of anyone in the cast, which leads to one major twist in the finale. Turner's performance is equal parts witty, tragic, and complex, and it'll keep viewers invested until the very last episode.

Turner's next big project is also a Prime Video original, as she's set to play Lara Croft in the streamer's Tomb Raider series. Not only is Turner sporting a look that perfectly replicates Lara's iconic outfit from the video games, but she'll also be working alongside genre legends, including Jason Isaacs (Star Trek: Discovery) and Sigourney Weaver (Galaxy Quest). Time will tell if the new Tomb Raider is as thrilling as Steal, but one thing's for sure: Turner is going to give it her all.