Josh O’Connor has burst onto the cinematic stage in the last 10 years, breaking out with a leading role in God’s Own Country and has worked with directors like Kenneth Branagh, Alice Rohrwacher, Luca Guadagnino and recently Rian Johnson in a cinematic rise that any actor would be jealous of. He has now joined forces with Kelly Reichardt, a low budget American auteur who’s slow cinema approach to filmmaking has set her apart from a lot of modern directors. The Mastermind is about JB (played, of course, by Josh O’Connor), an art school dropout turned small-time thief in the 70s who plans to rob his local art museum. JB is much less Danny Ocean and more like a wet wipe in a tweed jacket, and O’Connor deftly embodies JB’s desperation to pull off what seems like the lowest-stakes heist in history. The unprofessional nature of the heist adds to the quiet hilarity of the caper, I would describe it in detail but it would be a disservice to spoil all the jokes in a hilariously funny sequence.
Alana Haim stars as Terri, JB’s wife and mother to his twin sons, and while she isn’t the main player in the film, her presence is felt throughout. Terri is the emotional core of the story, allowing the audience to see the real impact of JB’s plans and she delivers probably the most heartbreaking performance in the film. After having a minor role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece One Battle After Another this year, I imagine Haim has many more big roles ahead of her.
The Mastermind, 2025. Directed by Kelly Reichardt.
It’s bisected into the heist portion, with a focus on the comedy and establishing the sleepy, low stakes mood of the film, and the post-heist scramble is a character study on JB and how he found himself where he is. The contemplative second half is a departure from the slightly zany first half, but it doesn’t take you by surprise. Considering it’s a heist film The Mastermind is slow, thoughtful, and the comedic moments are far less overstated than its siblings in its genre. Grandiose moments are perfect for a film like Ocean’s 11 or Baby Driver, but The Mastermind’s small town setting with the signature 70s brown aesthetic carves its own style of heist movie. Scenes are shot with a still or slow moving camera, letting you watch Josh O’Connor meander around the frame, complimenting the film’s physical comedy as well as highlighting its more thoughtful moments.
The Mastermind is a simple movie. Simply funny, simply entertaining, and simply well crafted. For an unconventional approach to a scarcely varied genre, it’s well worth the watch. The Mastermind is showing at Perth Festival until the 7th of December.