The Sticky: a 'beautifully unhinged' crime caper
Bingeworthy Amazon Prime series puts 'Fargo-like spin' on the tale of Canada's real-life maple-syrup heist

"The Sticky" begins, as most crime dramas tend to, with a body. But "this body happens to be submerged in a vat of maple syrup", said Aramide Tinubu in Variety.
In this new Amazon Prime series, writers Brian Donovan and Ed Herro have "put their own Fargo-like spin" on the real-life Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist of 2011, in which thieves stole almost 3,000 tons of the sticky sap from a storage facility in Quebec.
The "beautifully unhinged dramedy" follows "bitter maple farmer" Ruth (Margo Martindale) as she attempts to stop her business from folding while she's looking after her husband, who's fallen into a coma. When she finds out her farm is being shut down, she turns to local mobster Mike (Chris Diamantopoulos) and Remy (Guillaume Cyr), a "well-meaning security guard" at the Quebec Maple Association. Together, the "unlikely crew" band together for a "zany mission" to make off with $150 million of the "poorly guarded syrup".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
However, "things don't exactly go according to plan", and the trio comes dangerously close to being discovered in almost every episode. "Breezy, fun and entirely insane", the series takes viewers on a "wild and wacky ride" filled with "high jinks and false starts".
"There are great moments of farce" and the action-packed episodes fly by so fast, "you could easily binge this in a couple of days", said Anita Singh in The Telegraph. Jamie Lee Curtis makes a cameo appearance (her production company backed the show), but the series is "tremendous fun, even before she shows up".
Such is its pace, you start to wonder why the series wasn't "honed into a single feature film", said Jesse Hassenger in The Guardian. And too much time is spent "dithering around the idea of the heist", rather than letting viewers "enjoy the details and mechanics of one".
Still, the trio of fictional characters at the heart of the crime caper are "hugely entertaining", said Pat Stacey in the Irish Independent. The "wonderful" Margo Martindale anchors the entire show, "grabbing a rare leading role with both hands".
All in all, "The Sticky" is a "delightful, suspenseful adventure, full of jokes, bizarre situations and a sharp cast", said Tinubu in Variety. "It never stops being a complete ball of fun."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Irenie Forshaw is a features writer at The Week, covering arts, culture and travel. She began her career in journalism at Leeds University, where she wrote for the student newspaper, The Gryphon, before working at The Guardian and The New Statesman Group. Irenie then became a senior writer at Elite Traveler, where she oversaw The Experts column.
-
The marvelous powers of mucus
The Explainer It's snot just a pesky cold symptom
-
What to know about the 'no tax on tips' policy
The Explainer The new bill would make tip income exempt from federal income taxes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study finds
Speed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
10 great gifts to make yourself Pop-ular on Father's Day
The Week Recommends Make his day with a thoughtful present
-
6 captivating new US museum exhibitions to see this summer
The Week Recommends Get up close to Gustave Caillebotte and discover New Vision photography
-
5 horror movies to sweat out this summer
The Week Recommends A sequel, a reboot and a follow-up from the director of 'Barbarian' highlight the upcoming scary movie slate
-
5 electrifying books to read this June to spark your imagination
The Week Recommends A love story set in space, a pair of ambitious debuts and more
-
Fast-and-furious zombies, serial killer sharks and a matchmaking conundrum in June's new movies
the week recommends Danny Boyle is back with '28 Years Later' and Dakota Johnson has a Sophie's choice to make in 'Materialists'
-
'Less is more' in The Fifth Step
The Week Recommends Jack Lowden from Slow Horses is 'staggeringly good' in this new production at London's @sohoplace
-
Here comes the end of 'Squid Game'! Plus more great TV shows to see this June.
the week recommends The next great sports comedy, a young Marvel heroine and the conclusion of 'Squid Game'
-
The top period dramas to stream now
The Week Recommends Heaving bosoms and billowing shirts are standard fare in these historical TV classics