The Mastermind is set in the 1970s and feels, in many respects, as though it could have been made then. Not as an exercise in nostalgia or hollow imitation, but in its mood: a gradually darkening tone, a background of social unease, and a moral landscape that remains ambiguous throughout. It is a film that resists easy characterisation, content to let its characters drift through uncertainty rather than obvious narrative arcs.
The premise is simple: JB Mooney (Josh O'Connor), a carpenter and amateur art thief, goes along with a bigger heist that, needless to say, does not go as planned. Kelly Reichardt is less interested in the mechanics of crime than the people behind it and the motives that put it into motion. The 1970s setting is crucial, but it is handled with restraint. There is no fetishisation of period detail, no series of signifiers. Instead, the era is evoked through atmosphere: tired interiors, muted colours, the sense of a society no longer convinced of its own coherence. Political and economic tensions are present, but mostly as background noise, shaping behaviour rather than driving plot.
The film captures that particular moment when ideals felt exhausted the general mood turned into cynicism, echoing many films of that era as well as our own current societal malaise.
The direction is understated and scenes are allowed to unfold at their own pace, often without clear dramatic aim when in fact everything is carefully considered.
The film trusts the audience to connect dots without being guided and it never rushes to clarify what remains ambiguous, particularly its lead character. Josh O’Connor gives what is arguably his best performance to date with a mixture of aimlessness and reserve, never pushing for sympathy or explanation. His presence is low-key but magnetic, the performance fits the film’s refusal of clarity, with the actor giving the impression that his character is on the cusp of grasping what he actually wants yet never quite reaching it.
What is particularly striking is how the film evolves as it progresses. The first half establishes a loose narrative but then the second half pares everything back. Dialogue becomes sparse, the already slow momentum slows, and the film settles into a pattern of wandering and escape. JB moves through landscapes that feel increasingly emptied of meaning, as if the world itself is receding. These passages are slow but captivating.
This foray into genre cinema might seem like a departure for Kelly Reichardt and yet The Mastermind is so unmistakably her, aligning with her long-standing interests: people on the margins, systems that fail and movement without destination. The emphasis on walking, waiting and drifting recalls earlier films, but here it is placed within a more overtly criminal context.
Reichardt’s cinema has always been attentive to space, and The Mastermind is no exception. Roads, homes and open landscapes are presented as functional spaces, not expressive ones.
The Mastermind may appear modest on first glance, but its precision and restraint give it lasting weight. It is yet again a masterful and fascinating film from one of the best working American directors.
Review by Laurent de Alberti
Official Selection, in Competion
Star rating: ★★★★★
The Mastermind. Directed by Kelly Reichardt. Starring Josh O'Connor, Alanah Haim...
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