This week we turn our attention to the Prime Video series “Steal,” the film version of the bestselling memoir “H is for Hawk,” a so-so Netflix Agatha Christie series, and a crackling good Netflix cop thriller with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and a Shudder release that visits unexpected places.
Here’s our roundup.
“Steal”: A group of armed and masked intruders barge in and take employees hostage at a hotshot London investment corporation called Lochmill Capital. Their demand? Gobs of funds, which get transferred into different accounts. Caught in the chaos of this grandiose heist are two Lochmill Capital worker bees, Zara (Sophie Turner) and Luke (Archie Madekwe). The crime triggers a sense of paranoia that only grows in Prime Video’s six-part series. Zara and Luke soon realize that the theft could have been an inside job — the handiwork perhaps of MI, a rogue Lochmill Capital employee. Assigned to set a trap for the suspect is DCI Rhys (Jacob Fortune-Llyod), a strapping guy with a gambling problem. That is one of many problems that Zara and Luke go on to dodge, including dead-ends, dead bodies and a drunken mom. The eventual big reveal leaves you with more questions than answers. No matter, this is a tightly wound, decent financial thriller worth a binge. It’s made all the more suspenseful for its lead characters’ honest and realistic antics. The film doesn’t set out to make them heroes and let’s them do both dumb and courageous things. That difference from, say, a hero-worshipping Tom Cruise movie makes “Steal” a winner as these flawed folks confront one impossible situation after another. Details: 3 stars out of 4; all episodes available now.
“H is for Hawk”: Anyone with a beloved pet knows well that they can do much to help us get through the tough spots in life. For Cambridge University professor Helen Macdonald (Claire Foy), her support critter takes the form of a wild goshawk she calls Mabel. It helps her cope with unresolved grief over the loss of her photojournalist father (Brendan Gleeson). Based on the bestselling memoir that became a book club favorite, director Philippa Lowthorpe’s respectable but unnecessarily long adaptation presents us with a brittle, aching character who shuts herself off from others, including her best friend (Denise Gough), her mom (Lindsay Duncan) and brother (Sam Spruell). She transfers all her attention on training and bonding with the gosling; it becomes an obsession with her and turns her life upside down. She forgets appointments. Shrugs off her father’s eulogy until the last minute. Even turns her flat into a poopy aviary. Helen gets defensive when those around her express concern about her behavior and her unkempt conditions. Flashbacks provide context for the deep connection that Helen had with her dad and to his love of birding, and those scenes are quite moving. As is much of “H is for Hawk,” a somber exploration of grief in all its tangled stages. Foy’s internalized performance conveys how important it is to reconcile with grief, not to abandon it nor place it on an out-of-the-way emotional shelf. Where the film misses out is in making Helen a complete person, content in not venturing too far beyond this particular trying time in her life. Details: 3 stars; opens Jan. 23 in theaters.
“Agatha Christie’s The Seven Dials”: The Queen of the Mystery’s lesser-known spy mysteries rightfully exist in the shadows of her most brilliant brain twisters — “Murder on the Orient Express” and “And Then There Were None” and “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.” Her “The Seven Dials” is one of her contrived spy ditties that earned tepid reviews in 1929. Netflix and creator Chris Chibnall (“Broadchurch”) decide to dust off this dubious affair regardless and do manage to make it stylish and sometimes engaging, even if illogic abounds. The silly happenings spin off an array of outlandish events, shaky legacies and past murders that propel plucky heroine Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent (a highly likable Mia McKenna-Bruce) to snoop out a killer when she finds her sweetie (Corey Mylchreest of “Bridgerton”) dead the morning after a big soiree. Her scattered mom (Helena Bonham Carter) consoles her — sort of, but Bundle shakes off maternal tsk-tsks and grief to root out who slew her lover and stumbles upon a secret society that loves to wear ridiculous-looking masks. To tell more about this three-episode mystery would spill too much tea, so let’s focus on the best parts of “Seven Dials,” which occur when Bundle crosses paths with Superintendent Battle (Martin Freeman). Their back-and-forth gives the series the pluck it lacks elsewhere. Should there should be a second season of “Seven Dials, it would be best to dial up more of that Bundle-Battle repartee and formulate a better, more convincing mystery that’s not overly reliant on coincidences and preposterous. Details: 2½ stars; available now on Netflix.
“The Rip”: Don’t expect Joe Carnahan’s Netflix original film to win any awards for originality. That’s OK since this rogue cop thriller is heavily accessorized with an impossibly great cast (Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Teyana Taylor, Steven Yeun, Kyle Chandler and more) and then keeps you guessing and re-guessing who the bad guys are till the end. The murder of one of the Miami-Dade Tactical Narcotics Team’s top officer leads to questionable actions by Lieutenant Dane Dumars (Damon) once he sends his unit to a stash house where $20 million is hidden. He and his friend, hot-headed Detective Sergeant J.D. Byrne (Affleck) and others descend on a suspiciously quiet suburban cul de sac to get the money and then count it. They also get some unwelcome company. Inspired by stories he’s heard from a Miami cop buddy, screenwriter/director Carnahan (“Narc,” “The Grey” and more) makes the audience trust no one as he pulls the rug out from under us time and again, shifting suspicions to almost everyone in the cast. “The Rip” seems highly possible until its overblown climatic end, but even when it succumbs to the action thriller norms, it and the cast always keeps you thoroughly entertained. Details: 3 stars; now on Netflix.
“Queen of the Flies”: This very low-budget feature from the uber-indie team of Zelda and John Adams and Toby Poser, all relatives, startles and surprises – not through its plot twists (there are a couple doozies, hower) but by how offbeat and strangely touching it is. More supernatural enhanced rather than an outright horror film, it’s set in a weird house in woods where Mickey (Zelda Adams), a cancer patient, and her father Jake (John Adams) have been summoned by the witch Solveig (Toby Poser) for a last-ditch attempt for survival. They get sucked into the witch’s natural world of mysticism. But is it a sham? Or is she legit? That would seem to be the main question answered in a Hollywood version, but “Queen of the Flies” lands elsewhere and is more interested in telling a tale of survival, even grief. It’s a tricky work that’s pulled off well. Details: 3 stars; streams Jan. 23 on Shudder.
Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.
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