Here’s a great film, one of very best films I saw at this year’s Cannes: Kelly Reichardt’s “The Mastermind.” A trailer has been released, and can be seen below.
“The Mastermind” cleverly, and playfully, dismantles the heist formula, replacing high-stakes thrills with a deeply human portrait. Set in 1970s Massachusetts, the film follows J.B. (Josh O’Connor), a laid‑back, bearded burnout who hatches a clumsy plan to swipe four abstract paintings from a gallery.
O’Connor’s performance anchors the film: he’s neither heroic nor villainous, just a man stretched to his breaking point. Reichardt doesn’t rush the storytelling—dialogue is sparse —but the emotional stakes accumulate with each scene. We feel his fraying relationships (especially his marriage) and witness his flailing escape plans. The result is a tragically comic portrait of a man too passive to change and too proud to accept defeat.
Reichardt’s minimalist style (long takes, emotional accumulation, no dramatic fireworks) finds its perfect match in J.B.’s low-stakes, emotionally rich post-heist escape. In doing so, “The Mastermind” stands as perhaps Reichardt’s most accessible and entertaining film to date. It’s also one of her very best.
I say this as someone who was disappointed by her previous effort, “Showing Up,” which felt inconsequential, and shapeless. “The Mastermind” is a return to form for her.
Reichardt’s brand of cinema includes plenty of long takes, stripped-down dialogue and minimalist drama. The characters in her films live on the fringes of society. She’s also become one of the most influential filmmakers of the last decade; if you’ve seen last year’s acclaimed indie “Good One,” directed by India Donaldson, you just can’t escape the Reichardt influence.
Some of her most acclaimed works include “First Cow,” “Wendy & Lucy,” “Old Joy,” “Meek’s Cutoff,” and “Certain Women.”
