A heist film where everything goes wrong

This article has been republished from our Rewind newsletter.

The Mastermind is the opposite of your classic heist movie. Josh O'Connor - now of Wake Up Dead Man fame - plays J.B. Mooney, an unemployed architect, who is one of the least qualified thieves we've seen in the genre. His plan to steal artworks from a local gallery is threadbare at best, his crew is flaky, and he's borrowed money from his mother to fund the crime.

Despite this, J.B. and co do manage to rob the gallery in the film's first act, but not without incident. His antics draw the attention of the media, the police, the FBI, AND other criminals. With each new scene, The Mastermind finds a way to make matters worse for our anti-hero. Everything that happens after the heist is the real meat of the movie.

While The Mastermind is far from a romp - don't expect Ocean's Eleven - it's quietly funny. There's dark humour to be found in J.B.'s incompetence. It's also surprisingly gripping for what one might call a slow movie. The Masterminds unfolds at its own meticulous pace, but you'll never stop wondering about what happens next - even if you know it won't be good.

The Mastermind is streaming on MUBI. 

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Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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