Steal's crime thriller lacks the high-octane energy that it promises in the show's description, but at least the performances of actors like Sophie Turner add some color to an otherwise drab series. Crime thrillers have a responsibility to engage the audience with enigmatic ne'er-do-wells causing mayhem and getting the upper hand on weary detectives, and while Steal's premiere does a decent job at setting that pace from the jump, the rest of the series is decidedly less invigorating.
Sophie Turner stars as Zara Dunne, an underpaid office worker who becomes a star witness in a major heist that results in billions of pounds worth of pensions being transferred to offshore accounts by highly trained criminals. But the meat of the story is concerned with what happens after that fateful encounter, as DCI Rhys Covac (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) tries to unravel the mystery of who stole the money.
Steal Is Inconsistent In Both Pace & Quality
One of the great benefits of a premiere season is the fact that new shows can typically deliver consistent results early on with complete storylines that naturally flow towards an inevitable conclusion. But while there are only six episodes in Steal, the series suffers greatly from an overall lack of consistency. After the premiere resolves, the show seems to abruptly slow down, with each subsequent episode slowly approaching the finish line as the audience becomes increasingly disinterested.
On top of that, the story goes through ups and downs as some characters prove more intriguing than others, while arguably the most exciting individuals, the criminals, are pushed to the background to preserve the mystery. Unfortunately, the result ends up being bland, and it struggles to functionally keep up the thrills that were promised from the outset.
That being said, there are some redeeming moments. The tension in the relationships between Zara and Covac, or her dear friend and co-worker Luke, all amount to some of the most dramatic and exciting moments of the series. It's also fun to see the moral greys as opposed to clear divides between right and wrong that are explored over the course of the series.
Steal Joins The Ranks Of Mindless Action Despite Efforts To Be Clever
It's clear to see that there was a considerable effort put into making Steal a tense thriller that explored the psychology of its characters and played with morality, but unfortunately, due to the considerable inconsistencies, it comes up short. From beginning to end, the show sets up a number of twists and turns, but the conclusion is not as satisfying as one would hope, and only unravels upon further reflection.
Regardless, crime action shows don't always need to take the high road if the action scenes are exciting enough. Steal does a decent job of choreographing tense action, and the performances by the cast elevate these moments to become some of the most exciting in the series. Just don't expect too much more than that.
Steal's strengths lie in the wealth of drama and action that result in the series feeling more at home in that genre than the crime thriller territory, but I can understand why they pursued one demographic over the other. It doesn't break any new ground, and even the areas where it's following a pattern feel a little mundane, but at least Sophie Turner put the effort in, and her co-stars weren't half bad either.
Steal begins streaming on Prime Video from January 21.
'Game of Thrones' Sophie Turner Faces the Heist of the Century in New Thriller Series Trailer
Sophie Turner is an ordinary office worker caught up in the crime of the century in the new trailer for Steal. The Prime Video TV series will deal with the aftermath of a devastating heist, as an ordinary woman gets entangled with both the thieves and British intelligence. All six episodes of Steal will premiere on Prime Video on January 21, 2026.
As the trailer opens, office drone Zara (Turner) is working for Lochmill Capital, a pension fund investment company in the heart of London; the only thing dangerous about the job is that she might get bored to death. That all changes when a coterie of armed robbers burst in; disguised in high-tech prosthetics to cloak their true identities, they demand that Zara and best pal Luke (Archie Madekwe) transfer four million pounds into their account. Despite their objections over stealing millions from innocent people, they comply. As the thieves get away, Zara and Luke's troubles are only beginning. DCI Rhys (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd), a cop with a gambling problem, is nosing around Zara's life, the thieves are still on the loose, and MI5, Britain's national intelligence service, is entangled with the whole mess. Zara and Luke had better get to the bottom of this quickly, or they'll end up taking the fall...
Who Are the Stars of 'Steal'?
Sophie Turner rocketed to fame as Sansa Stark in HBO's blockbuster fantasy series Game of Thrones in 2011. She subsequently starred as Jean Grey in two X-Men films, and was featured in the film Do Revenge and the TV series The Staircase. Last year, she played a notorious British jewel thief in the miniseries Joan, and starred in the psychological thriller Trust. Next up, she'll reunite with Game of Thrones co-star Kit Harington in the historical horror film The Dreadful, and play the iconic video game heroine Lara Croft in Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Tomb Raider TV series. Madekwe broke out on the AppleTV series See, and has starred in the films Gran Turismo, Saltburn, and Lurker. Fortune-Lloyd made his screen debut in Wolf Hall, and has subsequently appeared in the TV series The Queen's Gambit, Bodies, and The Great; last year, he starred as legendary Beatles manager Brian Epstein in the biopic Midas Man.
Steal was created and written by Sotiris Nikias (Cafe 404). It is executive produced by Greg Brenman (Peaky Blinders) and Rebecca de Souza (The Confessions of Frannie Langton), produced by Nuala O’Leary (Who Is Erin Carter?), and directed by Sam Miller (I May Destroy You) and Hettie MacDonald (Normal People).
All six episodes of Steal will premiere on Prime Video on January 21, 2026. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
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