Maybe it’s the gloomy weather over there, or the hangover from all the nasty stuff they did during the Cold War, but the British do chilly political thrillers better than anyone else on the planet, and The Capture is a God Tier example of that particular subgenre. If that sounds like your cup of tea, you’re in luck, because Season 1 of The Capture is now streaming on Stan, while Season 2 is on ABC iview.
Written and directed by Ben Chana, The Capture follows Detective Inspector Rachel Carey (Holliday Grainger) as she tries to solve crimes in a world where the evidence of our own eyes can be manipulated by unscrupulous behind-the-scenes manipulators. Unfortunately, this is our world, not some near-future dystopia, and the increasing prevalence of “fake news” and the rise of deepfake technology makes The Capture an uncomfortably timely viewing experience.
In the first season, surveillance footage makes it seem that British soldier Lance Corporal Shaun Emery (Callum Turner) is guilty of assaulting and kidnapping his own barrister, Hannah Roberts (Laura Haddock), but he swears up and down he’s been fitted up, and the dogged detective soon uncovers an intricate and far-reaching conspiracy.
Season two sees Britain’s security minister Isaac Turner (I May Destroy You’s Paapa Essiedu) targeted by Chinese government agents using a deepfake video to make it seem like he’s reversed a vital policy stance. Once again, a labyrinthine conspiracy awaits our heroine, this time even deadlier than before.
The Capture has, ahem, captured a genuinely impressive cast—actors love making steely pronouncements in drab offices and deserted carparks, after all—including Ralph Ineson, Charlie Murphy, Indira Varma and, charmingly, Famke Janssen and Ron Perlman as a pair of CIA spooks up to their elbows in all this skulduggery. Fans of The Wire (and aren’t we all?) and other surveillance-centric drama should open a secure browser and fire up this one ASAP.
