Easy Money

It’s taken three years for this Swedish crime thriller to reach the UK (spawning a trilogy in the meantime), but it’s gripping stuff – even if the original title ‘Snabba Cash’ is way cooler than the English one. It unfolds as a compellingly relentless collision between three characters – an escaped Chilean convict who dotes on his pregnant sister; a Serbian drug kingpin who’s single father to an adorable little girl; and a bright MBA student who desperately needs cash so he can continue fooling his posh mates that he belongs in their circle. We know it’s all going to end in mayhem, but the plot never plays like a done deal. Instead we’re pulled this way and that by real emotions and moral uncertainty. Joel Kinnaman (familiar from the American version of ‘The Killing’) is especially good as the ambitious student, but the casting and performances are spot-on all round, thumped home by Jon Ekstrand’s killer synth score. Not an original perhaps, but perceptive insight and steely tension make a potent combination.