One Cent Thief Review: International-level Malaysian Thriller We’ve All Been Waiting For

When we first heard the term ‘One Cent Thief’, it quickly reminded us of that one urban legend of Aman Shah, the notorious former banker who allegedly stole millions from the bank. The media coined the term ‘One Cent Thief’ and we wrote a whole article about it here.

The series has been the talk of the town - or at least Twitterjaya, ever since the poster came out. Almost every living and breathing 90s kid remembers the tale and local movie buffs are raving about it online.

This isn’t another introductory article of One Cent Thief. Nope, this is a very reactive review after watching two explosive episodes of the show.

The series features the story of Iman Syah, a young and severely underpaid entry-level bank executive who’s stuck in a sticky situation as his father suffers from a heart attack; in need of bypass surgery to survive. As a former computer engineering student with plenty of hacking experience and fuelled by his hatred towards the finance system, Iman found a quick way to solve his problems: by stealing from the bank.

Starring Syafiq Kyle, Azira Shafinaz, Faizal Hussein, Fabian Loo and Sofia Jane, One Cent Thief had me startled from the first few minutes until the seat-clenching cliff-hanging conclusion of the first episode. Everything we thought we knew about One Cent Thief, any expectations, were thrown out of the window because frankly, we did not expect a thriller of this level to come out of our screens.

The writers of the show brought us on a trip into the mind of a struggling young man desperate to save his father - and along the way, improve his standard of living as well. Pushed into survival mode, Iman did the unthinkable; he stole 1 cent from every account in the bank and transferred it into a dormant account. What followed was his life's turning point: from a boring bank teller job to being chased by gangsters on motorbikes.

The second episode gets even more intense. The first half of the episode focuses solely on damage control after the discovery of Rizal’s murder as Iman struggles to erase any traces of malware in the server that might be linked to his IP. Fortunately, the hacker solved the problem in full-blown espionage style.

As predictable as it sounds, the show is reminiscent of Mr Robot. I mean, of course, typically viewers will make such a comparison; a brainiac hacker battles the system with just his wits and nothing to lose. As much as it’s a brainless parallel, the series doesn’t look like a cheap knockoff of the Emmy-award-winning drama. Sure, some scenes may mimic the intensity of the show, but the conflicts, arguments and motives set them apart.

Most of the audience may love the series for the hacking aspect but frankly, for me, the biggest strength of the show is the writing.

Oh, man. As a fan of crime thriller series like the Breaking Bad universe, Ozark, Narcos and Money Heist (first two seasons only), it feels like a dream come true for me to see a film written so brilliantly using similar writing techniques, depth and potential character developments as the ones I mentioned. Each story told, characters introduced and conflicts ensued - all felt natural. Why? Simply because the creator established the context in a manner that viewers in this TikTok-driven era can digest instantly and efficiently.

Not to my surprise, the brain behind the series is none other than experienced writer Alfie Palermo. Alfie recently made waves with another genre-bending show Dukun Diva and has seemed to run completely amok with One Cent Thief, producing the kind of barrier-breaking work the Malaysian industry has not yet seen or at least approved.

I mentioned ‘approved’ because a series as fresh as One Cent Thief needed more than just a good script, but a support system and backers willing to invest and work on something as daring as it is. After putting much-needed belief in projects like i-Tanggang, Histeria and Murder By Moonlight, it’s great to see Astro Shaw continuing their streak of critically-entertaining series with One Cent Thief.

Another thing that One Cent Thief is doing truly well is breaking the drama Melayu stereotype. It’s not entirely the language spoken, but the conflicts included in the series are real. The inclusion of actors like Aghonderan Sahadevan and Fabian Loo didn’t feel shoehorned at all (unlike some dramas and ads, sorry not sorry). They were written to add their own conflicts relatable to almost all Malaysians regardless of race and religion, which was sorely missing in series speaking primarily Bahasa for decades; a perspective that exists in the same sphere but was rarely recognised by the media.

Aghonderan Sahadevan takes on the role of Devan, a God-fearing ah-long character who’s brutal when it comes to money. His pent-up anger and ruthlessness add depth to his character and intensity to the overall storyline as Iman and his father may still be on Devan’s hitlist even after paying off their dues. The Devan character is a contrast to Ash Lee, played by Fabian Loo, who’s gentle and thoughtful in his approach (for now). I personally feel there is a parallel between these two characters as my gut tells me that both of them will flip their personalities around in the heat of the story. If that actually happens, then Iman Syah should be very wary.

Hence why, after writing a long review of the series, if I need to compress this review into three words it’ll be: ‘this is it’.

With Ariff Zulkarnain on his side, Alfie and his team created a monster of a series that will set a whole different standard for local Malaysian series, hacking off the ‘cintan-cintun drama Melayu’ perception of local productions once and for all.