Not Your Typical Art Heist Flick

The experience of standing mere feet away from a masterwork by Vincent van Gogh is both exhilarating and surreal. At the Museum of Modern Art, visitors are surrounded by priceless pieces, protected only by a thin wire and the vigilance of a guard. This delicate balance between appreciation and security often leads to discussions about the merits and drawbacks of displaying artwork in such an accessible manner. This theme is brilliantly explored in Kelly Reichardt’s new film, The Mastermind (2025). It will soon screen at the New York Film Festival and is set for theatrical release on October 17.

Art theft, often romanticized in films like The Thomas Crown Affair and Entrapment (both 1999), is often less glamorous in reality. Many art heists are surprisingly straightforward. For instance, in 1972, thieves brazenly held up the Worcester Art Museum and absconded with a Picasso, two Gauguins, and a piece by Rembrandt. The most infamous of these heists remains the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft, executed by two men posing as police officers—no high-tech gadgets or elaborate plans involved. This trend of audacious, yet simple thefts persists; Reichardt, who teaches at Bard College, notes that just last year, a student attempted to steal two paintings before he was tracked down by a police drone.

This blue-collar spirit of art theft profoundly influences the narrative of The Mastermind. The protagonist, JB (played by Josh O’Connor), and his friends hatch a simple plan: grab a few Arthur Dove paintings from their local museum, slip past the guard, and drive off in a stolen getaway car. However, even this uncomplicated scheme spirals into unforeseen complications and consequences. Reichardt has described the film as “an aftermath film, an unraveling film,” highlighting JB’s descent into desperation as he endures a particularly disheartening fugitive experience—a far cry from the glamor typically associated with heist films.

Known for her incisive portrayal of American history, Reichardt explores the myths of masculinity in Meek’s Cutoff (2011) and First Cow (2019). The Mastermind is set against the backdrop of the 1970s, a period marked by the decline of municipal institutions that flourished in postwar America. The city of Framingham, where the film is set, didn’t even have an art museum at that time, leading the production to utilize the I. M. Pei-designed Cleo Rogers Memorial Library in Columbus, Indiana, as a stand-in due to its striking architectural style.

The significance of the targeted artworks—Dove’s “Tree Forms” (1932), “Willow Tree” (1937), “Tanks & Snowbanks” (1938), and “Yellow Blue Green Brown” (1941)—is not lost on viewers. Dove is recognized as a pioneering modernist and arguably the first American abstract painter. Upon learning of the theft, JB’s father expresses confusion over the fuss surrounding these seemingly trivial pieces, highlighting a conservative shift in attitudes during the era. The film skillfully captures the post-’60s disillusionment that permeates American society.

Reichardt’s characters often grapple with feelings of disconnect from their surroundings, as seen in her previous works like Meek’s Cutoff and Wendy and Lucy (2008). In The Mastermind, JB finds himself struggling against a crumbling societal ideal, depicted through Nixon’s America. Conversations unveil his backstory as a former art student disenchanted with the mundane suburban life many faced post-World War II. Yet as he becomes tangibly aware of the darker side of life amid anti-war crackdowns and betrayals, he discovers that a complacent existence may be preferable to the harsher realities lurking in the shadows.

The Mastermind, directed by Kelly Reichardt, will showcase at the New York Film Festival from September 27 to October 23, with a general release in theaters on October 17.