Money Trap The Karun Treasure Review: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
After one episode, Money Trap: The Karun Treasure looks more like a comedy than a serious heist show. It is frantic and a bit messy, but a funny lead performance and a fun treasure hunt make it worth following.
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
Platform: Netflix
Genre: Heist Comedy
Language: Turkish
Writer: Yılmaz Erdoğan
Cast: Yılmaz Erdoğan, Ezgi Mola, Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ, Demet Akbağ
Heist shows are rarely meant to be serious, but some are more madcap than others. Money Trap: The Karun Treasure, a new Turkish series on Netflix, sits firmly in the wild camp. It starts with a gambling hall that doubles as a bowling alley, where a man shows his friends how to bowl. The twist is that the pins are bound and gagged men lying on the floor. It is a loud, dark, and strangely funny way to begin.
One of those men trying to dodge the balls is Asım Noyan, played by Yılmaz Erdoğan, who also wrote the show. Asım leads a gang of con artists that includes his wife Lerzan, played by Ezgi Mola. Earlier, we see them pull off an elaborate trick involving a mansion and a fake police raid. Their goal is an ancient leather treasure map that two farmers dug up in a field.
The map has also caught the attention of a rich, cigar-chomping woman named Nefise, played by Demet Akbağ. She has heard that a sarcophagus was found, but it was empty except for some remains. She wants the map badly, so she hires the man with the bowling balls to get it for her.
At first, Asım thinks the map is worthless. Some members of his team disagree and want experts to look at it, since it could lead to a real treasure. Then Asım’s money troubles get serious. His favorite casino is sold to a violent criminal named Sarı Saruhan, played by Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ, whom Asım has crossed before.
Saruhan wants Asım’s huge gambling debts paid, and he shows what will happen if he does not pay within a few days. Suddenly, a map that may or may not be real starts to look like Asım’s only way out.
What stands out is how little the show takes itself seriously. Erdoğan does not play Asım as a criminal genius. He plays him as a con artist with money problems and plenty of funny flaws, annoyed one moment and scheming the next.
One small scene has his pained smile when he learns his daughter Nazli, played by Bensu Soral Baş, is going to have a baby, and it is priceless. Overall, the show feels more like a comedy than a caper, with a tone close to Berlin, the spinoff of Money Heist.
The first episode does get a little too frantic near the end. Saruhan makes Asım read out a recipe for something called chicken breast pudding while he cracks walnuts, and another debtor slowly drowns in a Houdini-style water tank.
It is wild, but it can feel like the show is trying too hard to shock and amuse at the same time. Asım’s team is also pretty faceless so far, mostly existing to help him chase the treasure, so we do not yet know who they are.
Even so, the setup is strong. Asım is squeezed from two sides, with Saruhan chasing him for money and Nefise’s goons chasing him for the map. It is a fun mix of danger and silliness that makes you curious to see where the treasure hunt goes and whether the treasure even exists.
It is early days, and one episode can only tell us so much. But if you like heist stories that care more about laughs than clever plans, this is an easy one to start. We will share a fuller verdict once more of the season has been seen.
If you want other things to watch this week, our review of Nayyi Navelli covers a funny festive fantasy for the whole family. And if you are curious about big budgets and star salaries, our breakdown of Jailer 2’s budget and cast fees shows how much Rajinikanth, Mohanlal, Vidya Balan, and others were paid.
Money Trap: The Karun Treasure is now streaming on Netflix.