- Many people missed that Netflix dropped a documentary on the 2016 Bitfinex hack
- Amazon signed a deal to make its own film, but Netflix has got there first
- Should you add Biggest Heist Ever to your Christmas watchlist?
Did you know that Netflix dropped a documentary about the 2016 Bitfinex hack? No, neither did we. It was reported earlier this year that Amazon had signed a deal to make one, but Netflix’s version, called Biggest Heist Ever, dropped with such little fanfare that hardly anyone seemed to know about it. There may be a good reason for this, however: reviews have largely been unkind. So what, exactly, do critics not like about it, and should you ignore them?
Razzlekhan Revealed?
Biggest Heist Ever delves into the 2016 Bitfinex exchange hack, where $72 million in bitcoin was stolen. The documentary sheds light on the perpetrators, Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, dubbed the “Bitcoin Bonnie and Clyde,” exploring their unconventional personas, most notably Morgan’s alter ego ‘Razzlekhan’ the rapper (or should that be ‘crapper’?), the audacious nature of their crimes, and how they were undone by a Walmart gift card.
LeisureByte notes that the documentary “is able to put a ton of information into its short runtime, so much so that the pacing is fantastic and keeps you on your toes,” but this is one of the few positive reviews out there. IMDB rates the film 6.1/10 from five reviews, with one reviewer noting, correctly, that it is “clearly not” the biggest heist ever and called the film “very flat”.
Others echoed similar sentiments, with many anticipating a more detailed exploration of the technical aspects of the heist rather than an emphasis on the personal backgrounds of those involved:
you don’t learn ANYTHING beyond some character back story. Not how they did it, not of they had outside help from foreign countries, no intrigue, nothing. The big fbi/cia guys who actually put the whole thing together & made the arrest are like cardboard; no personality, no excitement; dry as toast.
It seems, then, that we may have to wait for the Amazon version to learn more than is already in the public domain, although if you aren’t familiar with the story at all, Biggest Heist Ever may give you an initial grounding.
