A film by Kelly Reichardt
With: Josh O’Connor, Alana Haim, John Magaro, Hope Davis, Bill Camp, Gaby Hoffmann, Amanda Plummer, Eli Gelb, Cole Doman, Javion Allen
In a sedate corner of Massachusetts circa 1970, JB Mooney, an unemployed carpenter turned amateur art thief, plans his first big heist. When things go haywire, his life unravels.
Our rate: ***
With The Mastermind, Kelly Reichardt aims to offer a heist movie in the style of the 1970s. She takes the codes of the genre, revisits them with intelligence and mastery, and stages an antihero straight out of New Hollywood, reminiscent of characters played by Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman (but in slow motion, as if he were on Xanax)…. She remakes cult scenes from Scarecrow (Jerry Schatzberg, 1973), Straight Time (Ulo Grosbard, 1978), and Daniel (Sidney Lumet, 1983), and there is even a precise remake of a scene from The Passenger (Antonioni, 1975). Added to all this are other references from elsewhere (Italian heist comedies, etc.).
But the film proves to be surprising and original, and despite the references, you can immediately recognize (by the rhythm and staging) that this is a Kelly Reichardt film! A refined arthouse film, with a brilliant Josh O’Connor, set in the 1970s but feeling entirely contemporary, and featuring the most beautiful final sequence of Cannes 2025. One of the most likely contenders for the awards.