The Mastermind (2025)

All Scheme, No Clear - The Mastermind review by griggs

I watched this hoping I knew what a Kelly Reichardt heist film would even look like. The Mastermind is pretty much what I’d imagined: less “thrill ride”, more “slow-motion car crash of a man’s life”. If you’re expecting slick planning montages and last-minute twists, you’re watching the wrong film.

Josh O’Connor shuffles through as a gormless dreamer, a man so busy rehearsing not just the fantasy of being a criminal genius but life itself that he never quite clocks how little grip he has on reality. He’s an abject loser, but never a cartoon one; Reichardt gives him just enough charm and self-delusion that you end up half-rooting for him and half-wincing.

The heist elements are almost beside the point. What sticks is the mood: languid pacing, a smoky jazz score curling round the edges, and Reichardt’s usual eye for small, telling details.