iHostage: The true story of an Apple store robbery behind Netflix's new Dutch thriller

Netflix’s new true-crime thriller iHostage has quickly garnered traction on the trending charts since its April 18 release, engaging audiences with its gripping depiction of an actual Amsterdam Apple Store standoff. Directed by Bobby Boermans, the Dutch production masterfully weaves fact and fiction together to present a chillingly realistic account of a day that rocked the pulsating heart of the Dutch capital.

The Apple Store robbery that inspired iHostage

The real-life event happened in 2022, when Abdel Rahman Akkad, who was 27 and a shop assistant, ran into busy Leidseplein Apple Store. Disguised and wearing an imitation bomb vest, he held a machine pistol and handgun, yelling for €200 million worth of cryptocurrency and free passage. “He said he’d detonate the whole complex if he didn’t get his way,” one police officer was quoted as saying by local news.

For five terrifying hours, Akkad held a 44-year-old Bulgarian man hostage while police surrounded the building. Gunfire erupted and the tense situation escalated ,prompting police to urge social media users to refrain from posting updates that the perpetrator might see.

Amidst the chaos, a daring escape by the Bulgarian hostage proved pivotal. As the director described, “The hostage has had a hero role. Within a few split seconds he escaped this hostage situation otherwise it would have been an even longer night and nasty night.”

The standoff reached its peak when the suspect asked to have water brought by a robot. Taking advantage the, hostage escaped causing Akkad to chase him only to be hit by a police car and later succumb in hospital. Although the bomb vest was graciously unarmed, the episode had a lasting effect.

Bubby Boermans, residing close to the Apple Store, was particularly touched by the occurrence. “Fortunately such hostage situations are not common in the Netherlands. That’s what made this incident bizarre,” he said in an interview.

iHostage albeit shortening the timeline and providing fictional names to its five leading characters attempts to recreate the terrifying hours and the surreal calm after the storm that succeeded the real-life drama.