A new thriller series is enjoying unexpected success on the cheapest streaming platform available in Romania

With a thrilling story and the main role played by the British actress Sophie Turner, known for her role as Sansa Stark in the series “Game of Thrones”, the new series “Steal” (Robbery) is one of the great successes of the beginning of the year on the streaming platform Amazon Prime.

“An ordinary working day at Lochmill Capital, an investment firm that manages pension funds, is turned upside down when a gang of violent thieves storms the premises and forces Zara and her best friend Luke to do their bidding. But who would steal billions of pounds from ordinary people's pensions and why?” notes FlixPatrol's description for 'Steal'.

“Detective Rhys is determined to find the truth, but as a recently relapsed gambling addict, he must keep his own financial problems under control while dealing with the secret agendas and competing interests at the heart of this large-scale crime,” it adds.

Zara is played by Turner, now 29, while Luke is played by British actor Archie Madekwe, who previously had minor roles in films such as Midsommar, Gran Turismo and Beau is Afraid. The role in “Steal” is the second major role for him, after the one in the sci-fi drama “See”, which, however, is not available for streaming in Romania because it is an AppleTV+ production.

But another figure that might be familiar to viewers in Romania is that of Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, the 38-year-old British actor who played the role of Townes, the top chess player and friend of the protagonist in “The Queen's Gambit” – the Netflix series that enjoyed success after its release at the end of 2020 and remains to this day one of the most popular original series ever created by the American streaming giant. In the new series on Amazon Prime Video Fortune-Lloyd plays detective Rhys.

Data from FlixPatrol, a reference site that tracks the popularity of various productions available on major streaming platforms in real time, shows that “Steal” is the second most watched series on Prime Video, behind only “Fallout”, the post-apocalyptic series based on the video game franchise of the same name and one of the flagship titles of the streaming platform.

All 6 episodes of the series “Steal” can already be seen in streaming

Cinema specialist website Deadline notes that “Steal” enjoyed somewhat surprising success, given that Prime Video doesn't seem to have spent much on its promotion, unlike “Fallout” season 2 and the new season of “The Night Manager,” which recently returned after a 10-year hiatus.

Deadline also points out that “Steal,” which premiered on Jan. 21, has cracked the top 10 of the most-watched streaming series in the U.S. in both reporting periods since then — a feat in itself considering that there are far more platforms in Hollywood's home market than in other countries (AppleTV+, Peacock, Hulu, etc.).

In addition, during this period it had strong competition from giants like “Bridgerton” on Netflix, which returned with the last season, “The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”, the new series “Game of Thrones”, or “The Pitt”, another series on HBO Max that has just been awarded two Golden Globes: for the best drama series and the best actor in a drama series, awarded to Noah Wyle.

Part of the success that “Steal” enjoyed may be due to the fact that, unlike other series released during this period, including on Prime Video, it had a simultaneous release of all six of its episodes. In other words, it can be seen in a binge-watching session or two, just like Netflix series and unlike most of the rest of the streaming platforms.

“This alert and highly addictive financial heist series isn't just full of twists and turns. It's also a clever meditation on the evils of money – where you end up hanging out with the 'Game of Thrones' star,” writes The Guardian in its review. Overall, the Sophie Turner-led series has an 80% approval rating from film critics on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

How much does a Prime Video subscription cost in early 2026

After the last rounds of price increases and changes on the streaming market, Amazon Prime Video offers in Romania a single standard subscription with a monthly price of 19.99 lei, equivalent to 4 euros and the cheapest on the local market, equal to one offered by SkyShowtime.

But in the case of SkyShowtime, the Standard subscription, which costs 3.99 euros per month, also includes advertisements. And the streaming platform that was launched in Romania in February 2023 announced at the end of last month that the price of the respective subscription will increase to 4.99 euros.

SkyShowtime has also notified customers of the new prices for its other subscriptions, with the changes coming into effect from February 24.

In the case of Amazon Prime, however, its single subscription comes with a major drawback for its subscribers: it allows video quality up to Ultra HD and with Dolby Atmos sound only for devices using the Android operating system.

For other devices and PCs, movies and series on Amazon Prime can only be viewed in HD resolution and with stereo audio.