In a sleepy Massachusetts community in 1970, JB Mooney (Josh O’Connor) dreams big but isn’t much for the finer details. Noting the laughably low security at the local art museum, the unemployed carpenter drafts and clumsily orchestrates a less-than-daring heist that leaves him in possession of four modestly valuable paintings, but no clue as to what to do next. Feeling the heat from both local authorities and organized crime figures, the practically penniless JB goes on the lam, drifting through Nixon-era America.
The Mastermind (a knowingly ironic title) marks the latest abstract approach to genre filmmaking from Kelly Reichardt (Meek’s Cutoff, Night Moves). As the film playfully subverts caper tropes and skillfully incorporates period details, O’Connor’s embodiment of a hapless, hangdog antihero is ideally attuned to his director’s deadpan wavelengths and Rob Mazurek’s melancholic score. This is a delightfully droll portrait of a man who might get off scot-free but can’t escape his own worst tendencies.
Josh O’Connor, Alana Haim
USA
2025
English
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Producer
Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani
Screenwriter
Kelly Reichardt
Cinematography
Christopher Blauvelt
Editor
Kelly Reichardt
Production Design
Anthony Gasparro
Original Music
Rob Mazurek
Kelly Reichardt
Kelly Reichardt is a filmmaker whose works have screened around the world for over three decades. A retrospective of Reichardt’s work took place at the Centre Pompidou in October 2021, and she was awarded the 2022 Carrosse d’Or award at Cannes. She is a recipient of the Film Independent Bonnie Award, United States Artists Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, Anonymous Was a Woman Award, and Renew Media Fellowship, and is currently the S. William Senfeld Artist-in-Residence at Bard College. Special screenings of her works have been held at Film Forum, Cannes, Venice, Sundance, Viennale, and Berlinale, among others.
Filmography: Meek’s Cutoff (2010); Night Moves (2013); Certain Women (2016); First Cow (2019); Showing Up (2022)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Last One for the Road
Two middle-aged drunkards drive across the Veneto region on a freewheeling bender, taking a young college student along for the ride. A celebration of the spirit of drink and the kinds of stories told around a table of old friends and too much wine.
The Art of Adventure
The unbelievable adventure story of how painter Robert Bateman and ecologist Bristol Foster drove a Land Rover from Africa to Australia in 1957, developing a love of nature to last a lifetime. An inspirational love letter to the adventure of life itself.
Blue Heron
In the late 1990s, eight-year-old Sasha and her Hungarian immigrant family relocate to a new home on Vancouver Island. Their fresh start is interrupted by increasingly dangerous behaviour from Jeremy, the family’s oldest child.
Holy Days
After his mom passes, Brian (Elijah Tamati) is comforted by Sisters Agnes, Luke and Mary Clare (Judy Davis, Miriam Margolyes and Jacki Weaver, respectively). The quirky quartet hit the road to save their convent from being sold to a property developer.
The Grapes of Wrath
In this Film Studies workshop, Devan Scott explores the purposes of three-point lighting and the influence of German Expressionism on Hollywood studio filmmaking. Followed by a screening of The Grapes of Wrath, photographed by Gregg Toland.
How Deep Is Your Love
Filmmaker Eleanor Mortimer tags along with a team of oceanographers and marine biologists as they survey the Clarion-Clipperton fracture, one of the most remote spots on Earth, home to a dazzling array of unknown creatures.