Festivals - Cannes 2025 : Kelly Reichardt Reinvents the Heist Genre with The Mastermind and Proves Her Vision Has No Bounds

By Mulder, Cannes, Palais des Festivals et des Congrès de Cannes, 23 may 2025

Under the gleaming sun of the Croisette, on May 23, 2025, the Palais des Festivals welcomed back one of the most quietly revered American filmmakers working today: Kelly Reichardt. Returning to the Official Competition at Cannes for the second time, Reichardt stepped away from the pastoral landscapes of Oregon that have defined much of her work to deliver something wholly unexpected — The Mastermind, a 1970s-set art heist film rooted in the gritty neighborhoods of Massachusetts. For anyone familiar with Reichardt’s slow-burning, minimalist storytelling, this genre shift might seem jarring at first glance. Yet in true Reichardt fashion, the result is something far more profound than a simple genre exercise. With The Mastermind, she crafts a deeply human and politically resonant narrative that expands her cinematic voice while remaining true to its contemplative core.

The film opens with a quiet unease. The cinematography by Christopher Blauvelt doesn’t glamorize the world of crime, but rather imbues it with a faded melancholy — textures of wood, concrete, and dusk light set the tone for what unfolds more as a character study than a high-stakes thriller. Rob Mazurek’s score is subtle and jazzy, threading tension through silence rather than spectacle. At the film’s heart is JB Mooney, a down-on-his-luck carpenter turned amateur art thief, played with a magnetic mix of vulnerability and frustration by Josh O’Connor. Known for his emotionally charged performances in The Crown and more recently Challengers, O’Connor brings an almost mythic weariness to Mooney — a man navigating both a broken economy and a wounded national psyche.

Mooney’s turn to crime is less about greed and more about survival, and perhaps, in some way, dignity. Reichardt sets his descent amid the turmoil of 1970s America — the Vietnam War, the rise of the women's liberation movement, and a growing sense of disenchantment. The film never loses sight of these larger forces, letting them bleed into the edges of its narrative. Alana Haim, in her first role since Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza, is a revelation once more, playing Mooney’s partner in crime with grit and soul. Their on-screen chemistry, sharp and emotionally fraught, draws clear yet subversive parallels to the classic Bonnie and Clyde dynamic — stripped of glamor, steeped in quiet desperation.

Though Reichardt steps into new territory with The Mastermind, longtime followers of her work will recognize the familiar emotional terrain. The working class, the marginalized, the lonely wanderers — these are the souls she’s always been drawn to. This time, she embeds them in the framework of a genre film, not to imitate its tropes, but to redefine them. Critics like Tim Grierson (ScreenDaily) have noted how the film taps into something broader — an America losing its way. And indeed, that sense of national disillusionment is not just thematic, it’s textural. The edit — done by Reichardt herself — is lean and meditative, emphasizing hesitation, stillness, and moments of contemplation that most heist films would rush past.

The journey to Cannes was as unflashy as the film itself. First announced in September 2024, with Mubi financing and distributing in North America, The Mastermind gradually built intrigue. Alana Haim and John Magaro joined in October, and by November, production was quietly underway with a stellar supporting cast including Hope Davis, Bill Camp, Amanda Plummer, and others. The announcement that it would compete for the Palme d'Or came only in April 2025, giving the film an air of secrecy and anticipation that mirrored its plot.

The Cannes premiere was met with warmth and prolonged applause. While some viewers arrived expecting an arthouse version of Ocean’s Eleven, they instead discovered a film more akin to The Friends of Eddie Coyle — nuanced, restrained, and piercingly human. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw called it quietly gripping in his four-star review, while The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney praised it as an artful exercise in genre reinvention. Indeed, what makes The Mastermind so remarkable is that it doesn’t just change Reichardt — it elevates the genre by infusing it with her signature empathy and precision.

Beyond the critical acclaim, the film feels like a turning point in Reichardt’s career. Known for intimate indies like Wendy and Lucy and First Cow, she has always favored quiet revolution over stylistic fireworks. But here, she proves she can command genre, ensemble casts, and period detail with as much authority as her more outwardly ambitious peers. It’s not just a good film. It’s a confident, assured expansion of what her cinema can do. With The Mastermind, Kelly Reichardt has cracked open a new space between arthouse and genre film — and she’s filled it with humanity, reflection, and quiet fire.

As the 2025 Cannes Film Festival continues to unveil surprises, The Mastermind has already secured its place among the most talked-about and artistically fulfilling entries. It’s a rare film that speaks both softly and thunderously — about art, about crime, about love and failure, and about a country at odds with itself. For audiences willing to listen, it offers a masterclass in storytelling that lingers long after the credits roll.

You can discover our photos in our Flickr page

Synopsis : 
In 1970, Mooney and two cohorts wander into a museum in broad daylight and steal four paintings. When holding onto the art proves more difficult than stealing them, Mooney is relegated to a life on the run.

The Mastermind
Written and directed by Kelly Reichardt
Produced by Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani, Vincent Savino
Starring  Josh O'Connor, Alana Haim
Cinematography : Christopher Blauvelt
Edited by Kelly Reichardt
Music by Rob Mazurek
Production companies : Mubi, Filmscience
Distributed by Mubi (United States)
Release date : May 23, 2025 (Cannes)
Running time : 110 minutes

Photos : @fannyrlphotography