Netflix’s This Is A Robbery Review: Thought-Provoking

Say hello to yet another heist drama on Netflix. However, this one is different from others because it is based on a real story. It is a docuseries that released on Wednesday. Is the docuseries directed by Colin Barnicle arresting enough? Keep reading our review to know more.

This Is a Robbery is based on the infamous robbery termed as the biggest and most shocking. There are 4 episodes of at least an hour where the former employees, eyewitnesses, and the officials who worked on the case share what happened. The episodes are titled They Looked Like Cops, Vipers in The Grass, We’ve Seen It, and $10 Million Reward.

On March 18, 1990, during St Patrick’s Day, the employees of Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum wouldn’t have imagined the horror that was about to befall them in the form of a heist. Two men disguised as police officers entered the museum at night and stole the artwork and paintings worth $500 million. The men were inside the museum for 81 minutes and robbed 13 artworks.

The stolen paintings and valuables include Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt’s only known seascape painting, Chez Tortoni painting by Manet, and The Concert, one of 36 paintings by Johannes Vermeer. To date, the artwork has not been found despite the arrests been made. There’s even a 10 million dollar reward for whoever gives the cops any information regarding the stolen paintings.

People who feature in the documentary share what they were doing on that particular day, how they found out about the robbery and their reactions. Most of the employees were heartbroken because they loved their jobs and had built a connection with the paintings. They share how the investigation happened, who was the inside man on whom several people had doubts and how they traced the robbers who conducted this horrific art heist.

Today, we know Boston as a peaceful and wonderful city. But in the 90s, it was a hub for many criminals and illegal activities. As the police officials and FBI tried to unravel who these two men were and how they managed to rob the museum, many theories, clashes in different art communities, and suspects’ names came up.

Director Colin Barnicle has tried to show us every intimate detail in This Is A Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist. His documentary features two eyewitnesses who share that they weren’t called again by the cops or the FBI after their first interrogation. They even say that the two men’s sketches looked nothing like the fake cops they saw outside the museum that day. Similarly, the documentary highlights many such flaws.

The docuseries requires your full attention. There’s a prolonged discussion about Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum‘s history and the paintings’ stories in some episodes. If you are only to know the story of when, how, what, and who, I wonder if this information will interest you.

This Is A Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist: Is it worth it?

Overall, This Is A Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist is intriguing. It’s unfortunate that even after 30 years since the robbery happened, no one has any information about the artwork. For me, it was a relief and quality content after watching the disappointing fictional heist drama, Sky High. The Netflix docuseries should definitely be on your binge-watch list.

This is a Robbery: The Worlds Biggest Art Heist is currently streaming on Netflix.

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