Sophie Turner’s New Crime Thriller Steal Lands Strong on Rotten Tomatoes
Sophie Turner is officially back on the small screen, and this time she’s trading Westeros for a high-stakes heist. Her new Prime Video crime thriller series, Steal, has debuted with a solid 80% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, signaling a promising start for the Game of Thrones star’s latest project.
Steal follows Zara Dunne, an ordinary office worker who suddenly finds herself at the center of a massive heist that upends her life. Turner leads the series with a performance that critics are already calling one of her best, anchoring a story full of twists, shifting alliances, and unexpected fallout.
The series also stars Archie Madekwe as Luke, Zara’s friend and co-worker who’s pulled into the chaos, and Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as DCI Rhys Covac, the determined investigator trying to uncover what really happened. Across its six episodes, Steal digs into the consequences of crime as much as the crime itself, leaning into character-driven drama just as much as thriller elements.
Steal’s Rotten Tomatoes Score and Critical Reception
Steal has launched with an 80% Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score based on five early reviews, four of which are Fresh. With all six episodes dropping on Prime Video on January 21, that score is likely to shift as more critics weigh in and audiences binge the full season, but the initial reaction suggests a compelling entry into Turner’s post-Game of Thrones career.
Several reviews highlight how Steal blends crime, drama, and action in a way that sometimes subverts expectations for a typical heist thriller. The show’s structure, which heavily emphasizes the aftermath of the heist rather than just the planning and execution, has become one of its defining creative swings.
What Critics Are Saying About Steal
ScreenRant’s review notes that while Steal is marketed as a high-octane thriller, it doesn’t always maintain the relentless suspense audiences might expect. Instead, its real strengths lie in its character drama and emotional stakes. As ScreenRant points out, Steal feels more at home as a drama-action hybrid than a straightforward crime thriller, and that shift works to its advantage in exploring Zara’s inner turmoil and the consequences of the heist.
Collider praises Steal as one of the strongest recent showcases of Sophie Turner’s range as an actor. The series “serves up twist after twist,” and Turner rises to the challenge, grounding even the wildest narrative turns with a layered performance. For fans eager to see her in a complex, morally gray role far removed from Sansa Stark, Steal delivers.
Not every critic is fully on board, however. The sole Rotten review so far comes from Richard Roeper at RogerEbert.com. While he calls Turner’s work “outstanding” and describes Zara as a complex and empathetic character, he criticizes the show’s reliance on familiar genre tropes and a heist team that, in his view, lacks dark charisma. Roeper’s main takeaway: if Steal gets a season 2, Zara deserves an even stronger adventure.
A Heist Story Told Backwards: Why Steal Stands Out
One of the most intriguing aspects of Steal is its structure. Instead of focusing primarily on the lead-up to the heist and the crime itself, much of the series is set after the heist has already taken place. This approach lets the show dive directly into the fallout, interrogations, and unraveling secrets rather than retreading the usual “assembling the team and planning the job” beats.
In an interview with ScreenRant, Turner and Archie Madekwe discussed how this decision flips the typical heist formula. Madekwe teased that Steal “does turn the formula upside down,” while Turner highlighted how refreshing it felt to explore the aftermath instead of just the action. This focus on consequences over spectacle helps Steal stand apart from a crowded genre, giving more space to Zara’s emotional journey and the moral complexity of what happened.
Sophie Turner’s Performance as Zara Dunne
Across the early reviews, one point is consistent: Sophie Turner is Steal’s greatest strength.
Zara Dunne isn’t a hardened criminal or a mastermind; she’s an office worker who finds herself tangled in something much bigger than she ever anticipated. Critics have praised Turner for capturing that blend of vulnerability, resilience, and moral conflict that makes Zara such a compelling lead. Whether she’s under interrogation, navigating tense dynamics with Luke and the rest of the heist crew, or confronting the consequences of her choices, Turner brings depth and nuance to every scene.
Even Steal’s harshest early critic acknowledges that Turner’s performance elevates the material. Zara is described as “undeniably complex and empathetic,” and that emotional grounding makes the show’s twists hit harder. For viewers who followed Turner from Game of Thrones to X-Men and beyond, Steal is a clear sign that she’s continuing to push herself into new territory.
Where Steal Fits in Sophie Turner’s Post-Game of Thrones Career
Steal is just one part of a packed lineup for Sophie Turner as she continues to build her career beyond Game of Thrones.
She’s reuniting with Kit Harington in The Dreadful, a Gothic horror film set to release in theaters on February 20. The project has already drawn attention for bringing the former Jon Snow and Sansa Stark back together on screen but in a completely different, darker genre.
On top of that, Turner is stepping into one of gaming’s most iconic roles: Lara Croft. She’s leading Prime Video’s upcoming live-action Tomb Raider series, which is already generating major buzz. A first-look image of Turner as Lara Croft dropped on January 15, marking the official start of production. While Tomb Raider doesn’t yet have an official release date, it’s shaping up to be one of the most-anticipated video game adaptations in recent years.
In this context, Steal functions as both a standalone showcase for Turner’s acting range and an appetizer for what’s to come. For Prime Video subscribers, it offers a tense, twisty series to dive into while they wait for Turner’s turn as Lara Croft.
Should You Watch Steal?
If you’re a fan of:
• Crime dramas that focus on fallout as much as the crime
• Character-driven stories with morally complex leads
• Heist narratives that don’t just play by the usual rules
• Sophie Turner’s work in Game of Thrones and beyond
then Steal deserves a spot on your watchlist.
The early Rotten Tomatoes score of 80% suggests that, while not universally adored, Steal is connecting with critics, especially on the strength of Turner’s performance and the show’s twisty, drama-forward approach. If you’re looking for the next binge-worthy series and want to see Sophie Turner in one of her most layered roles yet, this Prime Video original is well worth checking out.
All six episodes of Steal arrive on Prime Video on January 21, making it an easy weekend binge for crime thriller fans and Sophie Turner supporters alike.
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