Based on a true story. Five little words that can make all the difference to your viewing experience. And whilst The Helicopter Heist doesn’t ever print them on screen, this is a crime drama that firmly has its basis in reality. Which makes what you watch over the thrilling eight episodes even more shocking and incredible.
Based on Jonas Bonnier’s non-fiction book in which he interviewed suspects of the infamous 2009 Västeberga helicopter robbery, Ronnie Sandahl’s series is swamped in tension and drama from the offset. The blood red and black title card; the thumping synth music; the opening voiceover that declares, “Honey, by the time you get this, I might already be dead,” sets up an exhilarating and vivid series of events.
Rami (Top Dog and Deliver Me’s Mahmut Suvakci) is really down on his luck. A new parent in a cramped apartment, he needs money. Fast. But his previous jail time doesn’t exactly lead to well-paying jobs. A chance encounter with his childhood friend, Michel (Snöängler and Snabba Cash star, Ardalan Esmaili) sees him drawn into one of the most audacious thefts in Swedish history – a helicopter heist on a G4S bank vault. But with Detective Leonie Hamsik (Ikra Kostic) already aware that they are planning the crime, will the two men and their wider crew, really get away with it?
The eight episodes are divided between three directors. Veronika’s Jonas Alexander Arnby delivers three; Child 44’s Daniel Espinosa, three; and Deliver Me’s Anna Zackrisson, two. No one drops the ball. There are no odd tonal shifts, no dips in pace, no bad episodes.
Time is not linear within the series, we flip back and forward to months before the heist, a few hours before, days after and, indeed years before as we see Rami and Michel as young boys. It is Rami’s voiceover that anchors the episodes, allowing insight as to what he is going through during it all. The tension is electric throughout, with episode six being the best forty minutes of television you will watch this year. There is a delightfully eighties sounding synth soundtrack that often sounds like a heartbeat or a quickening pulse. There are explosions, car chases and police investigations that span two countries.
But, amongst all of this, there are people. Real people. And what The Helicopter Heist gets right is the portrayal of its characters. Ardalan Esmaili is suave, ambitious and methodical as Michel. He is the man with the plan – he assembles his crew meticulously, never once losing his cool in the face of such a feat. He does not show off his wealth nor does he resort to violence, but you cannot shake the sense that he is a very dangerous, very well-connected individual.
Ikra Kostic is fantastic as the weary detective on the case. Facing down the barrel of an Internal Affairs investigation, she needs a result on this heist in order to keep her job. She uses her native Serbian to communicate with potential suspects and works ceaselessly to tie all of her suspicions together. Erik Svedberg-Zelman gives a masterclass in anxiety as the helicopter pilot, Axel, a man whose life is a cocaine-fuelled mess.
The standout, however, is Mahmut Suvakci, who might possibly have the most expressive eyes in all of Scandinavia. We’re not supposed to like or root for Rami as a character – after all, he is a thief – but you cannot help but feel empathy for him. He has clearly had a bad childhood, has been to jail and simply cannot catch a break. He wants to provide for his family but is completely unable to do so. His in-laws look down on them from their middle-class terraced house and his partner dreams of a better life. Suvacki runs the gamut of human emotions – powerlessness, ambition, despair, hopelessness and love – across the series, drawing us into his world and making us understand his actions. It’s a truly powerful performance that really ties the various narrative strands together.
The bank heist itself is a thrilling piece of television that underlines the physicality of such a task. This isn’t Tom Cruise dangling himself effortlessly on a wire, this is grown men struggling to balance across flimsy, shuddering ladders that could drop them to their death. This is glass that won’t shatter, no matter how hard you hit it with a sledgehammer. This is getting sick from the fumes of metal saws. This is frightened hostages, hoarded into a tiny room, dripping with sweat and praying for release. There’s something very visceral about the way this particular crime is portrayed that you don’t see too often. It isn’t clean – it’s chaos. And that is what makes this series so watchable (even if you are doing so from through your fingers because the anxiety levels are insanely high).
This is a series rippling with paranoia and fear; with forensic investigation and sleepless nights; with action and emotion. Each episode is going to have you saying, “Just one more.” Thoroughly well written, directed and performed, this is a fascinating insight into what it takes to pull off one of the most daring crimes in modern Swedish history.
The Helicopter Heist lands on Netflix on November 22. It’s a must watch.