Crooks – Netflix Series Review

CROOKS on Netflix is a new 2024 miniseries from Germany. A genre hybrid with crime, thriller, action, and dark comedy. The tagline is “One Heist, Two Crooks, Three Cities” which is also a fair plot description. Read our Crooks series review here!

CROOKS is a new Netflix miniseries from Germany. It has 8 episodes and their individual runtime changes quite a lot. From just 39 minutes to more than one hour long. To be fair, there are many characters to introduce at first, so I can appreciate the first episode needing a long runtime.

This is a true genre hybrid where action, thriller, and comedy are at the forefront. Sure, this is a heist series, but the heist happens in episode 1. From that point, it becomes more about survival. The many oddball characters are what bring a lot of dark humor. Just watch the trailer to get a taste of this!

Continue reading our 2024 Crooks series review below. Find the miniseries on Netflix on April 4, 2024.

From heist to crazy road trip

When we first meet Charly (Frederick Lau), he’s leading a very normal life with his wife and their son. His former career as a safecracker has been replaced – rather appropriately – with being a locksmith. However, his infamous skills are needed one last time.

Or rather, they’re demanded by the kind of people you cannot refuse. As Charly is forced to take part in one last heist, things take a turn for the extremely bad. To protect his family, he must leave behind the life he’s been comfortably (if a little more bored) living.

The final heist leads to Charly finding a coin wanted by some real heavy hitters. We’re talking about a Berlin clan, a Serbian gang of burglars, a Vienna pimp, the Marseille mafia, and a mysterious master thief. Each of them has their own unique reasons for wanting the coin in Charly’s possession.

Fortunately, Charly also has a bit of an ace; The driver Joseph (Christoph Krutzler), who is also one excellent bodyguard.

Plus, he makes the most amazing apple juice. Not a bad skill to have either. Joseph is the preferred driver for a Vienna gang, who wants the coin to reach Austria safely once it has been retrieved from a safe in Berlin. He may also be the illegitimate son of a crime boss.

Joseph’s true skill is that he cares about those he protects. To a fault, which also makes it his downfall and explains why he ever became involved with the heist. Yet another request that became a demand!

One Heist, Two Crooks, Three Cities

The tagline of the 2024 Netflix series is “One Heist, Two Crooks, Three Cities” which is also a fair plot description. The heist happens fairly quickly, though I would argue that there are a lot more than just two crooks. The story does, however, play out in three cities.

We’re in Vienna, Berlin, and Marseille, making this quite a European adventure. Well, mostly in the middle to southern parts of Europe, but still. It makes for some great shots of these European cities, but in its nature, also focuses a great deal on the criminal underbelly of them.

Alongside stars Frederick Lau and Christoph Krutzler – as the safecracker Charly and driver Joseph, respectively – we see a wonderful supporting cast.

The cast includes Svenja Jung (Baghead), Georg Friedrich, Kida Khodr Ramadan, Erdal Yıldız, Robert Finster, Maya Unger, Jan Georg Schütte, Branko Samarovski, Brigitte Kren, and Virginie Peignien.

Watch Crooks on Netflix now!

The new 2024 Netflix series Crooks (which had the working title of Criminal) was created by Marvin Kren. He also originated the concept and is the showrunner. The actual screenplay (or teleplay, if you will) was written with co-creators Benjamin Hessler and Georg Lippert.

Marvin Kren also directed most of the episodes (five of them), while Cüneyt Kaya directed the remaining three episodes of this series.

If you enjoyed the Swedish Clark (starring Bill Skarsgård in the title role) or the German Kleo, then Crooks is for you. It’s also an ideal choice of entertainment for anyone who is a fan of heist stories, and following criminals who are more or less fortunate in their endeavors. If either is your jam, be sure to check this out!

Crooks (2024) is on Netflix globally from April 4, 2024.

Details

Creator & showrunner: Marvin Kren
Co-creators: Benjamin Hessler, Georg Lippert
Directors: Marvin Kren, Cüneyt Kaya
Cast: Frederick Lau, Christoph Krutzler, Svenja Jung, Karl Welunschek, Georg Friedrich, Jonathan Tittel, Kida Khodr Ramadan, Erdal Yıldız, Nima Yaghobi (aka Nimo), Lukas Watzl, Maya Unger, Jan Georg Schütte, Robert Finster, Veysel Gelin, Branko Samarovski, Brigitte Kren, Virginie Peignien