THE MASTERMIND Trailer: Josh O’Connor Risks It All in Kelly Reichardt’s Heartfelt Heist Pic

Every new film by Kelly Reichardt is certainly one to look forward to. Her next feature is one of four movies starring Josh O’Connor this year. The Mastermind, written and directed by Reichardt, stars O’Connor as an unemployed husband and father in 1970s Massachusetts who gets way in over his head when he orchestrates a heist at a local art museum. It also stars Alanna Haim, John Magaro, Hope Davis, Gaby Hoffman, Jasper Thompson, Sterling Thompson, and Bill Camp. Following its in-competition premiere at Cannes back in May, the film will next screen at NYFF before arriving in theaters on October 17. The first official trailer has now arrived courtesy of MUBI.

Savina Petkova wrote in her Cannes review, “Kelly Reichardt’s heartfelt heist movie, decisively named The Mastermind, is not ‘playing with genre’ in the same way you’d expect having seen her Night Moves as an eco-thriller or First Cow as a western. The Mastermind’s distanciation from obvious genre signifiers only works to reveal the pure, aimless soul at the center of the film… There is little dialogue in the film, but the beautifully quiet poeticism that is the signature style of the director’s collaboration with cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt emphasizes the throbbing hope for a better life… True to Kelly Reichardt’s cinema of empathy, The Mastermind extends an invitation to take a closer look at a character who refuses to do that himself.”

As the official NYFF synopsis reads:

In early-1970s Framingham, Massachusetts, taciturn family man James (Josh O’Connor) makes the rash, largely inscrutable decision to orchestrate a heist at the local art museum, absconding with a selection of modern paintings—without much of a plan. This autumnal, restrained, and often quite funny anti-thriller from Kelly Reichardt (Showing Up, NYFF60) sets this low-key criminal enterprise against a Nixon-era backdrop of alienation and political disillusionment. As always, Reichardt’s impeccable craft is front and center: the film’s naturalism and remarkable period detail creating a portrait of unerring authenticity and psychological mystery. Whether driven by social apathy or artistic passion, James—effortlessly played by O’Connor with hangdog elegance—registers as a compelling update of the ’70s American male loner archetype for another dispiriting, directionless time.

Check out the trailer and poster below.

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