User reviews

Funny Australian comedy about women attempting to steal a $16 million necklace.

Miranda Otto is a scream as Sara, a major Internet influencer who has gone through all her family money. She is desperate to sell to an American company; however, her ex-boyfriend, a horrendous artist, is about to ruin that.

Sara's maid is Evie (Aina Dumlao), who left her daughter behind in the Phillipines in the hope of making enough money to return home, get away from her husband, and move to a new home with her daughter.

Sara can no longer pay her.

Evie's friend Amy works for the well-known Roxanne Waters (Michele Vergara Moore) and has had her pension stolen due to Roxanne's husband's ponzi scheme. Both Amy and Roxanne want out.

Roxanne receives the necklace from her husband which actually belongs to his mother from hell. The women decide to steal it, setting up an elaborate plan that involves a carnival, a rock band, a drill, and a mannequin.

Very enjoyable. The cast is terrific.

What a good surprise this show was. At times is reminded me of big little lies. Good acting and story. What's great is it's only 4 episodes so it goes by fast. Great Australian show.

When I glanced at the promo picture I thought this was a remake of the fantastic The Usual Suspects. If you've ever seen The Hustle, you know what a hideous idea that would be. But this little Aussie gem, now available on Hulu, is a lot of fun. It bounces around like crazy with lots of twists and turns. Recommended!

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this and when it finished I wanted more!! Yes you can pick holes in it. But if you want a refreshing take on a heist with a great cast, the odd twist and be entertained at the same time, then sit back and enjoy the ride.

Sara Beastley is a successful influencer, about to sign an important deal. She displays her enviable life on her social accounts, for her followers to admire her wonderful house, her beautiful children, her nanny she cares so much for... The only problem is that it's all fake. She is broke and about to lose everything she's got. She barely sees her children, a vague nuisance in her life as a businesswoman. She knows nothing about her nanny. Fortunately, the latter is clever. With the help of a few friends, she decides to get her boss out of trouble, and get rich in the process, by organizing an unusual heist...

The mini-series is four episodes long, and that's a bit short - probably two more would have been better. It touches on the now classic theme of internet make-believe, but doesn't develop it. It shows how immigrant housewives devote time to their employers' families, even though they have sacrificed their own. But it's above all the central theme that would have benefited from further development : six women, of very different ages and social backgrounds, share a need to change their lives. Capitalizing on the fact that they don't fit the usual suspect profile, they team up to pull off an unlikely heist.

The first episode, which sets up the plot, is a bit classic. But then things accelerate, and the heist itself, which takes up most of the third episode, is absolutely hilarious. The amateurism of the apprentice thieves makes for some hilarious scenes. Although a little bit unfinished, this sympathetic series is well worth a look.

No pun intended and obviously the characters here are not supposed to be ... well obnoxious. Not as much as the seagulls I borrowed my summary headline from at least. Especially rich people are not a group most viewers will feel closely attached to. But they are people too - of course the show gives us the helpers - which is they eyes we watch most of it through.

And it has a lot of female power behind it. Miranda Otto may be the best known of the bunch, but all the cast is doing an amazing job. The show may be a bit longer than it needed to and if I got it right, something like this actually happened ... but just roll with it and suspend your disbelief. Interesting stuff - a bit like the Bling Ring, but a bit more sophisticated I reckon ... and "different" ...

SBS has put together some really big names of Australia TV and film for this crime heist comedy that adds a layer to the story that makes it stand out from the many tv shows already in this space. They also avoided diving too deep into some of the sub themes like Asian Australians who work to send money to their overseas home, Wealthy vs working class but they allow these to exist as context to the plot.

I binged this and didn't even notice the breaks between episodes. It was so full of life, so much fun, so full of heart, and also twists. Every character is so nuanced, and develops in unexpected ways throughout. The issues of Filipino women in Sydney were woven all the way through, not laboured, just really well integrated into the story because we could see the situation through the eyes of the Filipino characters. So well written, the cinematography and scenery were fantastic. The acting was great. I was in such a good mood afterwards, I was walking around the house smiling and laughing.

When it comes to the heist genre, silly plot details are often acceptable. Whether it's The Italian Job or the Ocean's film franchise, there are always loopholes or silly sequences somewhere in the plotline. Even the attempts of Tarantino and the Coen brothers were not devoid of narrative flaws.

So for The Unusual Suspects, the heist masterplan having a silly blueprint and an even sillier execution was completely excusable. What was not forgivable however, was its characters and its lame attempt to pay homage to the Filipino culture.

The series claims to have the first major involvement of Filipinos on Australian television, both behind and in front of the camera. However all it delivered was exaggerated stereotypes and unfunny caricatures. [This, coming from a Filipino-Australian who has lived in the Philippines and Australia.]

The show features four major Filipino characters. First is Evie, the nanny who, between dialogues, switches from having a flawless American accent with highfalutin vocabulary to having an amplified thick Filipino accent with broken grammar. Then there's Roxanne, the self-made businesswoman who becomes unintelligible when speaking in Tagalog. And then there's Amy, the biggest contradiction in the show, who plays a stay-in housekeeper to one of her best friends, Roxanne, because of her illegal status in the country. Yes, a stay-in housekeeper who wears a maid's uniform serving her best friend (and sending cans of Milo at that, to a country already overstocked with Milo.) Lastly there's Gigi, supposedly the Millennial representation of the bunch, who comes from a rich family in Manila but has a history of shoplifting. Surprisingly, she's the most realistic character among the four Filipinos, yet statistically still unlikely to exist as a real person in Australia.

Not one of these characters is simply realistic within the Filipino diaspora in Australia. If anything, it's a mishmash of Filipino archetypes in other countries, desperately forced to be out-of-the-box Australian characters.

Despite these complaints, there are still some merits to the show. The way the direction played with creative flashbacks added style to the action and thrill. The imagery of the affluent areas of Sydney was also one of the visual highlights of the series.

In the end The Unusual Suspects just left a terrible taste in my mouth. It is unfortunate to see interviews of the cast and crew so excited in bringing this representation of Filipino talent into Australian screens, but if this is the best Australian TV brings to the table, then definitely Australia still has a long way to go in portraying characters and telling stories from the different Asian subcultures in the country.

Loved it. Fun, yet with enough depth and twists. Loved that all the main characters were women and the men supporting cast. Thankyou for this snapshot into the lives of Phillipino domestic workers in the wealthy Australian suburbs.

I truly hate negative reviews, they are often people seeking attention. My negativity on this TV show would normally pass but reviewers both here in in the daily papers seem to have given this show a massive boost because it is Australian and comes from one of the public broadcasters. It is in fact a very cliched story of the excesses of the well off overlaid by a story of Filipino people living in Sydney with various immigrant statuses and troubles. The writing is incredibly loose with some stark errors that should have been fact checked or script edited properly.

The story of a rich woman who has her livelihood threatened is wildly overacted by Miranda Otto and there is no indication of any actual connection between her and her children and husband. That may have been a legitimate narrative, but removes completely their agency in the family and is completely without nuance. Her real life husband and sometime love interest here, Peter O'Brien, is far more engaging, but again the lack of nuance and lazy writing relegates him to a silent movie villain, just a surprise we didn't have speech cards to reinforce how we were supposed to feel about him. Her character's actions during the caper could have been dealt with more subtly had the writers not bothered to go down the most obvious path.

The caper ties up very nicely at the end, but that is not enough to justify having sat through the previous 3.5 hours. Over boosted by the press and the reviewers here, there are much better ways to while away a lockdown.

This series is soooo funny!

Absolutely great casting !

Storyline and dialogues Top What makes it magical it's just the perfect length !

4 episodes.

Persevere through the first episode and then the characters really develop. It's laugh out loud hilarious at times. Great combo and chemistry with the lead characters.

I was so excited to watch this, I love Miranda Otto and I want to support an all female lead but this is not great and I have no idea how it received so many 10 star ratings, could it be friends of the the crew/cast/network trying to bump the score?

Let's start with the Filipino stereotypes. Between the gold digging Filipino wife and the Filipino servants (mind you, one is wearing an actual uniform) this feels borderline racist. Don't even get me started on the poor little rich girl who is sent from Philippines to work as a cleaner. Miranda Ottos character is so overacted at times it pains me to watch her. Cue the evil mother in law, the philandering husbands...

The story has more plot holes than Swiss cheese, the viewer this needs to be as drunk as Sara to overlook them.

This wasn't a drama, this wasn't dark enough to be a noir, this wasn't remotely funny, so what genre was this? I think it could have swung a little more in any of those directions and achieved a far greater story.

There were some rather well placed flashback scenes but overall 80% of the show I found almost too cringe worthy to watch.

I'll keep it short... this is a funny, very entertaining female heist drama/comedy that is entertaining from start to finish. Great performances by the mostly female cast with a clever and surprising story and twist. How these women come together to steal a 16 million dollar necklace is the main plot and it thickens but I'll leave that to your viewing. Lots of laughs and thrills. The Filipino actresses are brilliant and Miranda Otto is a blast. One of the best Aussie series I've seen.

Someone believes it makes sense to shake the camera all the time when filming. No. I does NOT make sense filming it shaky to cover up a bad story.

Some scenes are filmed ok but that doesn't weight up the rest.

What a clever little show. I could really relate to this expose of the shallow world we now live in. Outstanding acting, right down to the role-model teenager and those funny little resilient and engaging kids.

I'm ashamed - I was 3/4 through the first episode before I thought - hey this is OK. I then binged the whole four episodes and then re-watched them a week later. This was good. Not perfect - but pretty great. (Thank you to Miranda and Peter doing the obligatory advertising on The Project) - because I may never have sought it out on streaming.

This was a great miniseries full of fun, diversity and strong female characters. I am a fan of heist movies and this is up there with the Ocean's film series especially Ocean's 8. The show provided a good snapshot of a person's individual journey, struggles, self worth and aspirations for their future; both rich and poor. Thoroughly entertaining, well acted and enjoyable. Can be streamed free on SBS on demand.

Absolutely brilliant and very entertaining. I had to binge watch it.

Generally, Australian shows are a "letdown ", trying too hard and usually the comedies are not funny at all, except for my favourite, Rake and Jack Irish and Sea Change, off the top of my head.

Although the Beginning of the first episode had me Wanting to switch off, I was so glad I persisted! It was a hugely brilliant surprise! Well done to the writer, director, excellent cast and all who were involved.

Can we have more please!!!

Sara Beasley (Miranda Otto) is a high-powered social media influencer. Her long-suffering nanny Evie De La Rosa takes care of her kids and everything else. Sara looks to have a perfect life but it's far from perfect. When a $16 million necklace gets stolen from Roxanne Waters, the women all become suspects.

This is a fun little crime comedy. Otto is having loads of fun. I love these women and their characters. They are a fun group. It does take a couple of episodes to set them up but the last two episodes are all fun escape caper.

This was so well written and acted. No caricatures, actually very believable. From my time as a nanny in Bellevue Hill, really believable.... A must watch.

I rarely watch Aussie series, but this amazing crime comedy blows my mind. The show breaks the inflexible impression that Filipino laborers leave on people. Miranda Otto just steals any scene she is in and makes me belly laugh. The close relationship between Roxanne and Amy touches my heart, which never became that of master and servant. I love the final plot twist! Love your nanny!