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A Surprising Heist Thriller Is Blowing Up On Netflix

When you think of Freddie Highmore, an international heist thriller isn't the first thing that comes to mind. Chances are, you'd think of his roles in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, psychological horror prequel series Bates Motel or medical drama The Good Doctor, but the actor is now 29 years old and clearly keen to expand his horizons.

the vault

When you think of Freddie Highmore, an international heist thriller isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Chances are, you’d think of his roles in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, psychological horror prequel series Bates Motel or medical drama The Good Doctor, but the actor is now 29 years old and clearly keen to expand his horizons.

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His most recent starring role comes in The Vault, which has been making a surprising dent in the Netflix most-watched list over the last few days. A Spanish production that’s now available on the world’s biggest streaming service, the plot follows a marine archeologist who finds treasure on a sunken ship, only for it to be seized by the government.

Feeling slighted, a crack team is formed to recover the loot using an ingenious scheme that revolves around the local streets being swamped by soccer fans watching the World Cup, but as things tend to do in the genre, it isn’t quite as straightforward as the initial plan.

the-vault

The Vault is helmed by Jaume Balagueró, who shot to prominence as the director of the first two installments in the REC series, with leading man Highmore also listed as one of the producers. The ensemble cast includes Game of Thrones veteran Liam Cunningham, X-Men‘s Famke Janssen, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword‘s Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, and Sam Riley.

Reviews have been middling, with The Vault currently sitting on an okay Rotten Tomatoes score of 54%, but the heist caper is a type of film that’s always worth checking out if it’s done right, and Netflix subscribers clearly agree based on it’s performance so far.