To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

The true story behind Netflix's new heist series Kaleidoscope

The true story behind Netflix's new heist series Kaleidoscope

Netflix dropped Kaleidoscope on January 1

Netflix's new heist show Kaleidoscope has shaken up the platform with its eight part 'non-linear approach to storytelling'. Watch the epic trailer below:

The show follows a crew of expert thieves who are on a mission to unlock an unbreakable vault for the biggest payday of their careers.

Before they can get hold of the cash, they've first got to get through the world’s most powerful corporate security team, along with the FBI.

What makes the series stand out is that there is no order to the episodes, so you can start pretty much anywhere you want.

Also giving the show an element of authenticity, is the fact that it is based on real events.

Kaleidoscope was based on true events.
Netflix

New York's Hurricane Sandy in 2012 was the inspiration for the show's central plot.

“It’s loosely based on something that might have happened,” director Eric Garcia told Netflix's Tudum.

"After Hurricane Sandy, $70 billion worth of bonds got flooded in the basement of the DTCC, which is a large clearing effort that’s owned by a bunch of the big banks. To my mind, I was like, ‘Well, that’s a perfect coverup for a heist!’”

Just as a quick explainer, bearer bonds are an unnamed physical certificate which has no name and can be used to pay for pretty much anything, making them a pretty much untraceable form of currency.

Soaked with water, the vault's valuable contents were ruined by the hurricane and had to go through a painstaking repair process which involved freeze-drying them and cleaning every single sheet of paper individually.

How much was in the vault wasn't confirmed, but a source claimed to the New York Post that '$70 billion in bearer bonds were in jeopardy'.

What happened to the bearer bonds was also left unclear, but experts at the time said that they could only be salvageable by 'freezing-drying them in a cold vacuum chamber'.

Netflix

Speaking on the complexity of the show, Garcia said: “Being able to move around and watch different orders gives you a different viewpoint on the characters.

“There are questions that are going to be asked in one episode that are answered in another episode.

“Similarly, there'll be answers in an episode that you're watching that you don't even know are answers to something until you see the question when you watch another episode.”

“When you watch Kaleidoscope, all the information is there to be able to connect the dots and know the story,” added executive producer Russell Fine, who also directed two episodes.

Netflix

The series stars Giancarlo Esposito, Paz Vega, Rufus Sewell, Tati Gabrielle, Peter Mark Kendall, Rosaline Elbay, Jai Courtney, Niousha Noor, Jordan Mendoza, Soojeong Son and Hemky Madera.

"A master thief and his crew attempt an epic and elaborate heist worth $7 billion dollars — but betrayal, greed and other threats undermine their plans," reads the official synopsis.

Kaleidoscope is available to stream on Netflix now.

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: Netflix, TV and Film