A dry, quietly funny anti-heist film that uses a bungled crime to expose a drifting, self-deluding man and the emotional dead air around him. If you like patient, observational filmmaking with period texture and a wry edge, this is a strong watch.
The Mastermind
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Drama · Crime
Thu · 1h 50m
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Starring: Josh O'Connor, Alana Haim, Hope Davis
Overview
In a sedate Massachusetts suburb circa 1970, unemployed family man and amateur art thief J.B. Mooney sets out on his first heist. With the museum cased and accomplices recruited, he has an airtight plan. Or so he thinks.
Director
Kelly Reichardt
Cast
Josh O'Connor, Alana Haim, Hope Davis
Curator Review
Verdict
A dry, quietly funny anti-heist film that uses a bungled crime to expose a drifting, self-deluding man and the emotional dead air around him. If you like patient, observational filmmaking with period texture and a wry edge, this is a strong watch.
Best for
Kelly Reichardt fans
Viewers who enjoy slow-burn character studies
People who like anti-genre crime stories
Fans of understated 1970s-set American cinema
Audiences open to deadpan humor and ambiguity
Skip if
You want a fast, twisty heist movie
You need clear catharsis or a tidy ending
You dislike slow pacing and minimal plot propulsion
You prefer overtly stylish or high-energy crime films
Overview
The Mastermind turns a museum heist into a study of drift, delusion, and masculine self-mythology. Rather than building suspense around precision and payoff, it lingers on the awkward, mundane aftermath of bad choices, finding humor in a man who thinks he’s starring in a genre movie while the world treats him like a nuisance.
Worth noting
Kelly Reichardt’s approach is patient and unsentimental, but not cold. The period detail, the autumnal mood, and the jazz-scored unease give the film a lived-in texture, while the performances keep it grounded in small humiliations and missed connections. It’s less about the crime than the emotional vacancy that makes the crime possible.
Bottom line
For viewers tuned to Reichardt’s rhythms, this is another sharp deconstruction of American aimlessness. For everyone else, it may feel deliberately underpowered. But if you appreciate films that turn failure into character revelation, it has a lot to offer.
Top Letterboxd reviews
izzyfarina1 (3★) · 8066 likes
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Your unemployed friend on a Wednesday
olive (3.5★) · 5438 likes
what if you were STUPID and BROKE and ALANA HAIM was your wife and she HATED you
David Sims (4★) · 4433 likes
Josh O'Connor: *is foolish while jazz plays* me: applauding
Thomas Flight (4★) · 3635 likes
Understated might be an understatement. To fully appreciate much of what Reichardt usually (but especially here) you have to understand how her deconstruction of narratives relates to her deconstruction of masculine tropes. A deadbeat dad tries to escape his feeling that he was "meant for greater things" by casting himself as a real life character in the plot of a genre film, all Reichardt does is have show us (with a sort of wry smile) how that would probably actually… more
A rigorous Kelly Reichardt film that shares the same patient pacing, historical texture, and interest in people making bad decisions in unforgiving spaces.