The Mastermind (2025 film): Difference between revisions

==Plot==

==Plot==

In 1970, [[Framingham]], [[Massachusetts]], unemployed carpenter James Blaine “J.B.” Mooney schemes to steal four [[Arthur Dove]] paintings from the local art museum. He takes a loan from his mother Sarah under the pretense of using it to find work, then uses it to pay three men to steal the paintings. The getaway driver backs out the day of the heist, so J.B. takes over for him while one of the thieves, Ronnie Gibson, pulls a gun on a student completing a homework assignment during the robbery. J.B. hides the paintings in the loft of a barn.

In 1970, [[Framingham]], [[Massachusetts]] carpenter James Blaine “J.B.” Mooney schemes to steal four [[Arthur Dove]] paintings from the local art museum. from .B. , .

J.B. obtains another loan from his mother after lying that he has been recruited for a high-paying project and needs money to buy specialized tools. He uses the loan to pay three henchmen to steal the paintings. The getaway driver backs out the day of the heist, so J.B. takes over for him while one of the thieves, Ronnie Gibson, pulls a gun on a student completing a homework assignment during the robbery. The robbery is executed amateurishly, but succeeds anyway due to the museum’s lack of security. J.B. dismisses his remaining henchmen, Ronnie and Guy Hickey. However, he feels insulted when his father criticizes the thieves’ choice to steal only abstract paintings. He hides the paintings in the loft of a barn.

He returns home to find detectives interviewing his wife Terri, Ronnie having named him as the leader of the heist after being arrested while robbing a bank. J.B. denies any involvement. A furious Terri tries to take their young sons Carl and Tommy to J.B.’s parents, but Tommy demands to stay with J.B. while he gets a call from his conspirator Guy Hickey. J.B. takes Tommy with him to meet Guy, where he is abducted by an [[organized crime]] outfit who force him to give up the location of the paintings.

J.B. returns home to find detectives interviewing his wife Terri. The detectives reveal that Ronnie robbed a bank after J.B.’s heist and named J.B. as the “mastermind” of the museum theft. J.B. denies any involvement, but the detectives are skeptical. After they leave, J.B. asks Terri to take their young sons Carl and Tommy to J.B.’s parents while J.B. goes [[on the lam]].

Guy calls J.B. to demand more money. J.B. agrees to meet him at a prearranged location, but it turns out that Guy has betrayed him to an [[organized crime]] outfit. The mobsters force him to give up the location of the paintings, and take them for themselves. They lecture J.B. on recruiting more reliable accomplices and leave.

==Cast==

==Cast==

American heist film

The Mastermind is a 2025 heist film written and directed by Kelly Reichardt. The film stars Josh O’Connor, Alana Haim, Hope Davis, John Magaro, Gaby Hoffmann and Bill Camp. Its plot follows a 1970s suburban family man living a double life as an art thief who steals paintings by Arthur Dove.^[4][5]

The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on May 23, where it was nominated for the Palme d’Or, and was released in the United States by Mubi on October 17.

In 1970, Framingham, Massachusetts carpenter James Blaine “J.B.” Mooney schemes to steal four Arthur Dove paintings from the local art museum. Although J.B. comes from an affluent family—his father is a judge and his wife has a white-collar job—J.B. is unemployed. He frequently borrows money from his mother, who worries that he has no plan to pay her back.

J.B. obtains another loan from his mother after lying that he has been recruited for a high-paying project and needs money to buy specialized tools. He uses the loan to pay three henchmen to steal the paintings. The getaway driver backs out the day of the heist, so J.B. takes over for him while one of the thieves, Ronnie Gibson, pulls a gun on a student completing a homework assignment during the robbery. The robbery is executed amateurishly, but succeeds anyway due to the museum’s lack of security. J.B. dismisses his remaining henchmen, Ronnie and Guy Hickey. However, he feels insulted when his father criticizes the thieves’ choice to steal only abstract paintings. He hides the paintings in the loft of a barn.

J.B. returns home to find detectives interviewing his wife Terri. The detectives reveal that Ronnie robbed a bank after J.B.’s heist and named J.B. as the “mastermind” of the museum theft. J.B. denies any involvement, but the detectives are skeptical. After they leave, J.B. asks Terri to take their young sons Carl and Tommy to J.B.’s parents while J.B. goes on the lam.

Guy calls J.B. to demand more money. J.B. agrees to meet him at a prearranged location, but it turns out that Guy has betrayed him to an organized crime outfit. The mobsters force him to give up the location of the paintings, and take them for themselves. They lecture J.B. on recruiting more reliable accomplices and leave.

With his connection to the robbery now public knowledge, J.B. goes into hiding with his college friends Fred and Maude. Maude deduces that J.B. planned to sell the paintings through their old art professor, who admired Dove. She privately asks him to leave. He rejects Fred’s suggestion of joining his brother’s commune in Toronto and takes a bus to Ohio to stay with another pair of friends, but learns that they moved away the day before his arrival.

J.B. hitchhikes to Cincinnati, where he rents an apartment. After learning that the paintings were recovered and returned to the museum, he calls Terri, who hangs up when he asks her to send him money. He tries to take a bus to Toronto but cannot afford a ticket, so he steals an elderly woman’s pocketbook and escapes into a crowd of anti-Vietnam War protesters. The police violently break up the rally and J.B. is arrested. Although he protests that he was not a protester, the officers ignore him and throw him into a police van with the actual protesters.

In September 2024, it was reported that Kelly Reichardt would write and direct the art heist film The Mastermind. Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani, and Vincent Savino would produce for Filmscience, with Mubi financing the film and distributing in North America. Josh O’Connor would star in the film.^[6] In October 2024, Alana Haim and John Magaro joined the cast.^[7][8] On November 13, 2024, it was reported that production had begun, with Hope Davis, Bill Camp, Gaby Hoffmann, Amanda Plummer, Eli Gelb, Cole Doman, Javion Allen, Matthew Maher, and Rhenzy Feliz having joined the cast.^[9]

In April 2025, The Mastermind was announced to be competing for the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on May 23, 2025.^[10][11] It will also screen at the 2025 New York Film Festival.^[12] The film was theatrically released on October 17, 2025.^[13]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 98 critics’ reviews are positive. The website’s consensus reads: “Kelly Reichardt crafts a heist film at her own laconic pace with The Mastermind, a contemplative crime drama that glides along Josh O’Connor’s effortless watchability and a sumptuously vintage aesthetic.”^[14] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 80 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating “generally favorable” reviews.^[15]
Tim Grierson of ScreenDaily considered that the protagonist’s story “connects to something larger about an America losing its way”.^[4]
Peter Bradshaw described The Mastermind as “quietly gripping” in his 4 out of 5 stars review of the film in The Guardian.^[16]
David Rooney [de] of The Hollywood Reporter pitched the film as “an artful exercise in genre reinvention”.^[17]