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Payback (2023)

2023 · Crime,Drama,Thriller · crime-procedural, mob-organized-crime, contemporary-realistic

Payback poster

Payback is a tight six-part Scottish crime thriller in which an accountant's widow is coerced by a powerful Edinburgh gangster into tracing £28 million in laundered funds that vanished with her murdered husband. Produced by Jed Mercurio, it distinguishes itself from genre peers by grounding its tension in financial forensics and legal jeopardy rather than action or violence, with Peter Mullan's menacing gangster applying psychological pressure rather than brute force. The tone is deliberate and procedurally credible, anchored by a standout solo performance from Morven Christie as a woman navigating police manipulation and criminal coercion simultaneously. It rewards patient viewers with a satisfying, closed-ended resolution.

From the reviewers

It is well written, well acted, well directed and has great pace.
DC Kahn played by Prasanna Puwanarajah is an interesting conflicted character.
unlike so many crime series these days, didn't rely any chases between the "goodies and baddies" to bolster the plot.
I did find it a bit difficult to follow the paper trail to the missing millions with its surreptitious accounting practices and obscure terminologies
They also got the police scenes right = None of that business of D. C.s calling their guv'nors by first name or kicking off with the higher ranks for 'dramatic' effect as we saw in Line of Duty

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