🎬The Mastermind (2025) – A Quiet Heist That Hits Loud | USA & UK Release Date, Cast & Plot Details

THE MASTERMIND (2025): A Quiet Heist That Hits Loud

Get ready to rethink everything you know about the heist genre. From acclaimed director Kelly Reichardt comes The Mastermind, a meticulously crafted 1970s-set crime drama that peels back the polished surface of suburban life to expose the secrets beneath.

Premiering to critical buzz at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival (where it competed for the Palme d’Or), The Mastermind will arrive in theaters on October 17, 2025, distributed globally by MUBI in territories including the US, UK, India, Canada, Germany, and more.

🖼️ The Plot: Crime in the Comfort Zone

The Mastermind follows James Blaine Mooney (played by Josh O’Connor), a seemingly average suburban father in 1970s America. To his neighbors and family, James is calm, composed, and upstanding. But behind closed doors, he's orchestrating a series of elaborate art heists, living a double life that threatens to unravel everything he’s built.

As the noose tightens and the stakes rise, James' life spirals into tension-filled paranoia, challenging both his moral compass and the fragile fabric of his family.

🎭 Cast: A Powerhouse Ensemble

This slow-burn character drama is powered by a remarkable ensemble:

• Josh O’Connor (Challengers, The Crown) as James Blaine Mooney – the conflicted father and mastermind

• Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza) as Terri Mooney – James’ wife, whose suspicion grows as the truth edges closer

• Hope Davis as Sarah Mooney – the stern family matriarch

• Bill Camp as Bill Mooney – James’s overbearing father

• John Magaro as Fred – James’ friend and reluctant accomplice

• Gaby Hoffmann, Amanda Plummer, Rhenzy Feliz, Matthew Maher, and Eli Gelb in pivotal supporting roles

With Reichardt’s signature attention to emotional nuance and atmospheric tension, each character carries the weight of personal stakes in this intricate web of crime and conscience.

🎬 Behind the Scenes: An Auteur’s Vision

Directed, written, and edited by Kelly Reichardt (First Cow, Wendy and Lucy), The Mastermind is far from your typical high-octane heist movie. Instead, it’s a character-driven, period-rich exploration of identity, deception, and the American dream gone rogue.

• 📷 Cinematography: Christopher Blauvelt

• 🎵 Score: Rob Mazurek

• 🎞️ Edited by: Kelly Reichardt herself, staying true to her creative control

Financed and distributed by MUBI, with production by Filmscience, the film was shot on location to capture the faded aesthetic of 1970s Americana—low-lit interiors, dusty art warehouses, and lush suburbia co-existing in tense contradiction.

🗓️ Global Release & Availability

Following its May 23, 2025, Cannes premiere, The Mastermind will release theatrically in the United States on October 17, 2025. Thanks to MUBI’s global distribution strategy, it will also be available in:

🌍 Countries:

• United Kingdom

• Canada

• India

• Ireland

• Germany

• Turkey

• Netherlands

• Latin America and more.

💭 What to Expect

If you're looking for a cinematic thrill ride packed with explosions and quick cuts, this isn’t it. But if you're craving:

• ✨ Thoughtful storytelling

• 🎨 Visually rich period detail

• 🔍 Character studies wrapped in crime fiction

• 🧠 Themes of duplicity, legacy, and class

…The Mastermind will be your film of the year.

🎟️ Final Word

The Mastermind is Kelly Reichardt at her most daring, merging the introspective tone of her indie classics with a genre that rarely slows down to catch its breath. With a stellar cast led by Josh O’Connor and Alana Haim, this isn’t just a film about an art thief. It’s about what we’re willing to steal to protect the life we’ve built—and what we might lose in the process.

📅 Mark your calendar: October 17, 2025.

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