Film Festival: The Mastermind

With The Mastermind, director Kelly Reichardt—known for understated masterpieces like First Cow and Showing Up—takes a new and surprising turn: the heist film. Her signature minimalist style gives way here to a gripping, suspenseful narrative, without losing her subtle sensitivity to human nuance and social complexity.

In the turbulent America of the 1970s, J.B. Mooney, an unemployed carpenter, decides to break free from his hopeless existence. What starts as an impulsive escape attempt grows into a daring art theft that turns his life upside down. As the country simmers under the Vietnam War and the women’s liberation movement, J.B. becomes increasingly entangled in a world of deceit, desire, and moral decay.

Reichardt stays true to her poetic view of American life, with special attention to ordinary people living on the fringes of society. The Mastermind premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where it stood out as a layered and surprising…