Movie Review: The Mastermind
Screened at Stockholm International Film Festival 2025
One-liner: An enigmatic lead and a brazen criminal act drives this uneven yet entertaining, offbeat and delightfully retro crime caper.
The Mastermind is a heist crime drama from writer-director Kelly Reichardt, centred on a daring theft in 1970. A failed architect leads the job at a time when security was far less sophisticated than it is today. A literal daylight robbery – the equivalent of a smash-and-grab – the operation doesn’t go as planned.
This brazen theft results in James Blaine Mooney trying to hold onto the four artworks, leading investigators toward the whereabouts of “The Mastermind”. Set in the 1970s, there is a distinct retro sensibility to the film, featuring an offbeat sense of humour that captures the absurd nature of the crime. A would-be family man, Mooney goes into hiding as the film tracks the slow wheels of justice.
As the reluctant criminal becomes the target of investigators and various interested parties, he calls in favours and tries to subvert police efforts. The Mastermind is an unusual crime drama, avoiding the flash of genre films like Ocean’s Eleven in favour of something much more grounded and unaffected.
The “Mastermind” himself is entertaining in his ability to remain enigmatic, never quite clarifying his true motivations beyond artistic appreciation. Josh O’Connor does a great job of see-sawing our collective sympathies: at times we want him to get away with it, and at others, we hope he gets what’s coming. Taking up most scenes, he’s ably supported by the likes of Alana Haim and Hope Davis.
Beyond his appreciation for the art, the film toys with the idea that he may have committed the crime to find meaning in his mundane existence – much like a midlife crisis. While this motivation isn’t expressly discussed, it makes the film more compelling than a simple man-on-the-run tale.
“So, now’s the part where we disappear, right?”
Through its seeking heart, the authenticity of the mise-en-scène, and the earnest nature of the performances, The Mastermind becomes more involving. And yet, one never fully emotionally invests in Mooney, who flits from one thing to the next, not quite sure of himself, trying to duck and dive.
There’s an undertone of schadenfreude as we enjoy the close calls and setbacks he experiences. His casual attitude towards his self-destruction filters into the filmmaking itself; this ambling, laid-back approach makes for a lightly entertaining movie with some curious twists.
There are certainly a few lulls in the pacing as The Mastermind shifts gears, trying to figure out exactly how to reach its end. While it takes a few pit stops that feel like marking time, the wrap-up is so ironic and unconventional that the upswing counts in its favour. It delivers a truly memorable resolution – a moment of poetic justice.
The screenplay almost seems to be fighting for The Mastermind’s soul. This adds to the tension as we try to discern the ultimate point of it all, raising questions of ownership, the value of material things, and the scales of justice.
There is quite a bit of rebalancing as this disillusioned man attempts to have it all, not realising the full weight of the consequences. In too deep and scrambling to dig himself out, things go from bad to worse. Anchored by solid character performances – particularly Josh O’Connor, who keeps it all together – The Mastermind is a mostly enjoyable film that manages to entertain with its old-world charm and casual indifference.
The bottom line: Grounded
