Swedish crime series ‘The Helicopter Heist’ goes bizarrely far: police cannot intervene
That they make good crime series in Scandinavia is no longer a secret. But I can tell you: they did it again. ‘Helikopterrånet’ is the latest Swedish crime series from Netflix. ‘The Helicopter Heist’ (as the series is called in English) dives into a million-dollar heist in a suburb of Stockholm. Even more exciting: the story is based on a true robbery.
The only way out
Rami (Mahmut Suvakci) and Michel (Ardalan Esmaili) ended up in crime during their youth. What starts with small shoplifting grows into large, armed robberies. Rami has left that life behind and wants to be a good man and father. But when an investment goes wrong, returning to the criminal world seems to be the only way out for his financial problems. Just at that moment, he runs into Michel again, and he also urgently needs money. The two embark on their biggest plan ever: a heist on the most secure cash depot in Sweden. The job seems impossible, until they come up with the idea to use a helicopter to outsmart the police.
The real heist
On September 23, 2009, a cash depot in Västberga (a suburb of Stockholm) was robbed. The perpetrators landed with a helicopter on the roof and managed to take bags of money. The police could only watch, as they were too afraid to intervene due to the threat of weapons and bombs, and they were also unable to use their own helicopters. The robbers managed to escape, but were soon found. Seven men were convicted for the robbery, but the total group was likely much larger. Swedish writer Jonas Bonnier spoke with four of the perpetrators and wrote the (partly fictional) book ‘Helikopterrånet’; the basis for the Netflix series was born.
A look behind the scenes
Without giving too much away: in episode six we see the actual robbery. And this entire episode was filmed in one take. Director Daniél Espinosa and writer Ronnie Sandahl wanted to give us viewers an idea of what it’s like to be part of a heist like this, and they believed that could only be done by not cutting the shot at all. Step by step, we are taken through the execution of the plan, which was a huge challenge for the creators. As a series lover, I naturally want to know exactly how they did that, and fortunately, I’m not the only one. In a ‘Bakom kulisserna på Helikopterrånet’ (‘Making The Helicopter Heist’) we get a glimpse into how Espinosa and Sandahl managed to execute their master plan. And believe me: you’ll want to watch the episode again afterwards, it only gets more impressive.
All eight episodes of ‘Helikopterrånet’ and the special are now available on Netflix.
Image: Netflix
