The following is a non-spoiler review of all eight episodes of Apple TV’s 12 12 12.
An FBI principle of crime states that high-asset robberies require 12 months of planning, 12 hours to execute the physical theft, and there is a critical window of 12 days after the robbery during which law enforcement needs to catch the perpetrator, otherwise they are likely to be never caught at all. It’s this rule of thumb that serves as the foundation for 12 12 12, a new heist series premiering this week on Apple TV. But while captivating in parts, the new series falls short of the premium standards viewers have come to expect from Apple TV, arguably the most consistently high-quality player in the increasingly competitive streaming space. That’s because the very thing that makes 12 12 12 unique is the thing that repeatedly hinders the show from greatness.
Created and executive produced by Dudi Appleton and Jim Keeble, 12 12 12 unfolds across three timelines of a heist. Each episode oscillates between the 12 months of planning, the 12 hours of a heist, and the 12 days following the heist, following disgraced FBI agent Jack Strickland (Anthony Mackie) and career criminal Paul Galvin (Jamie Dornan) as they engage in a cat-and-mouse clash across Europe.
In the over-saturated heist thriller space, it is difficult to find a point of novelty to make a movie or series stand out from its countless predecessors. But 12 12 12 finds that point of novelty in the form of an unconventional, non-linear, trifurcated narrative structure that chronicles each critical stage of a heist at distinct periods of time. On paper, this is a clever premise, one that opens the door for creative team Appleton and Keeble to creatively play with time as a means to cultivate intrigue and tension. Unfortunately, the unique narrative structure gives way to a show that repeatedly deprives itself of momentum and urgency.
While the series does a (mostly) serviceable job not causing too much disorientation from its frequent fluctuations between three distinct time periods, it is marred by a narrative structure that renders much of its runtime either predictable or redundant. In following the aftermath of the heist, the audience is already privy to the fact that Galvin and his team pulled off, at least initially, the daring theft of a bank vault deep beneath the streets of Zurich. In turn, this renders numerous scenes in which the team meticulously prepares for the bank robbery feel unnecessary as the audience already knows, for the most part, the outcome of their efforts.
There is certainly some enjoyment to be had seeing the process by which Galvin plan the heist and Strickland painstakingly try to prevent it, but knowing so much about what ultimately happens makes the sections of the show dedicated to the 12 months of planning and 12 hours of the heist decidedly less compelling and suspenseful than everything unfolding in the 12 days following the heist.
The series doesn’t entirely squander its non-linear narrative structure, however. Despite the predictability and lack of urgency that comes from dedicating two-thirds of its runtime to events happening before and during the heist, the series still manages to take a number of interesting and unexpected twists and turns, namely in its final two episodes. Admittedly, not every twist and turn is delivered with the kind of precision and sophistication of writing to make them wholly comprehensible and jaw-dropping, but they nonetheless afford the series with a much-needed subversion of expectations.
Although struggling to effectively grapple with its unique storytelling device, 12 12 12 compels in other ways. The cat-and-mouse battle between Dornan and Mackie is a far cry from De Niro and Pacino in Heat, but there’s enough tension between the two to make their back-and-forth somewhat compelling. The lavish European setting, meanwhile, often makes the series feel like an extravagant, high-budget James Bond film, with an action sequence playing out in the Swiss Alps being particularly reminiscent of something out of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The Christmas setting also gives the series a festive quality that will delight those looking for a more atmospheric watch this holiday season.
On a final note, the series errs in its overly simplified attempts to comment on prescient issues, including racism, sexism, and nationalism. Mackie’s FBI Agent Strickland is a fish-out-of-water in Europe, frequently making mean-spirited jabs at European culture and customs that further the stereotype of American arrogance. Attempts are made to create a bond between Strickland and his partner hunting after Galvin, Lena (Sallie Harmsen), bond over their shared minority status in the white, male-dominated field that is European law enforcement, but these efforts have the nuance of a hammer.
Ultimately, when stripped of its distinctive storytelling structure, 12 12 12 is little more than a conventional heist thriller — the kind that has graced movie theaters and television screens for decades now. With the momentum and urgency often taken out of the proceedings by dedicating two-thirds of its story to events that unfold prior to and during the heist, the new Apple TV series only fascinates in fits and starts, resulting in a television event that falls short of the premium streaming service’s stellar standards.
VERDICT: 5/10
12 12 12 will make its global debut on Friday, November 13 on Apple TV with the first two episodes, followed by one new episode every Friday through December 25, 2026.
