There is a perfectly good heist thriller somewhere inside Apple TV’s 12 12 12. Unfortunately, the series seems far more interested in everything surrounding the robbery than in making the robbery itself exciting.
Despite a promising premise, a capable cast and an elaborate three-timeline structure, this eight-part crime drama struggles to generate the urgency its story demands. It isn’t particularly bad television; it is simply rather dull.Starring Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan, the series revolves around an ambitious attempt to steal a fortune in cash from a Swiss bank.
Dornan plays Paul Galvin, a career criminal who is pulled back into the business after his brother Bobby’s troubles put his family in danger. Mackie is Jack Strickland, a disgraced FBI agent determined to track down the people responsible for a previous operation gone wrong.
Their paths converge around a robbery that requires a year of planning, 12 hours of execution and a 12-day window to escape the authorities. Hence, the title.The show’s most interesting idea is its narrative structure.
Each episode moves between three timelines: the planning, the execution and the aftermath. It is a device that could have created an absorbing puzzle, allowing us to piece together what went wrong and how the characters arrived at a particular point.
Initially, the shifting timelines do offer some intrigue. But the novelty wears off, and the structure eventually feels more like a storytelling exercise.The bigger problem is that the emotional baggage of its characters repeatedly takes precedence over the heist.
Paul’s complicated relationship with his brother, the danger surrounding his family and Jack’s unresolved trauma and need for revenge are given considerable attention. These personal histories are meant to add depth to a familiar cat-and-mouse narrative, but they rarely make the central conflict more compelling.
Instead, they slow down a story that desperately needs momentum. By the time the series returns to the actual mechanics of the robbery, the urgency has often dissipated.
This is particularly frustrating because the heist itself has enough moving parts to sustain a far more engaging thriller. There is a sizeable crew, elaborate planning, technological and logistical challenges, and the constant possibility of betrayal.
Yet the series doesn’t always make these elements feel as consequential as they should. We are told how complicated the operation is, but rarely feel the full tension of watching it unfold.Mackie and Dornan are watchable, although their performances cannot entirely compensate for the writing.
Dornan brings a measured quality to Paul, a man who wants to leave his criminal past behind but finds himself repeatedly pulled into it. Mackie’s Jack is more volatile, driven by a personal vendetta that often threatens to cloud his judgement.
The contrast between the two gives the series a functional central rivalry, but their cat-and-mouse dynamic never develops the electricity one would expect from this pairing. The supporting characters, too, are introduced with enough backstory to suggest they will become important pieces of the larger operation.
However, many remain underdeveloped, serving the plot more than adding to it. The series has an ensemble capable of making the heist feel like a genuinely collaborative effort, but it doesn’t always give its members enough room to register.
There is, of course, a certain comfort in watching a glossy crime drama move between European locations, tense confrontations and complicated criminal schemes. 12 12 12 is polished, and its relatively straightforward presentation makes it easy to follow despite the shifting timelines.
It works reasonably well as ambient viewing, something you can dip into without having to invest too much in every twist or development. But that is hardly a compliment for a thriller that wants its audience to stay on the edge of their seats.Two episodes of the show are out.
New episodes will release every Friday on Apple TV+.- Ends