An exuberant yet measured thriller, devoted equally to twisty action and characterization, Culprits is largely the child of J Blakeson, a director/screenwriter (I couldn’t find out what the “J” stands for) who has a pedigree in similar shows. The essential story idea is brilliant: a mastermind thief (Dianne Harewood, played with chilling menace and intelligence by Gemma Arterton) assembles a crack burglary team to steal a fortune from a seemingly impregnable fortress; a few years later, the team, living around the world with false identities, finds it is being hunted down (mostly by Ned Dennehy, evil-looking, as the evil Devil). What distinguishes Culprits is that it is told from the viewpoint of Joe (formerly David, codenamed Muscle), played thoughtfully by Nathan Stewart-Jarrett. Joe is about to get married to his boyfriend (with two kids) in America and he provides the sense of humanity in the film, albeit a tenuous one, for Muscle lives up to his name as the eight episodes become steadily more crisply and amorally violent. The film romps around the world in high style, is beautifully filmed, and conforms to a back-and-forth-in-time script that works well. Culprits is, within the genre of the bloodthirsty heist thriller, a refreshingly kinetic and intelligent entry. Most watchable and a bit more than that…
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