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The Mastermind from Director Kelly Reichardt Streams in December on MUBI
- TalkTeaV
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 14 hours ago
A quiet suburban heist leads MUBI’s next original film release.
Josh O'Connor as the character J.B. Mooney: Credit MUBI
The Mastermind arrives on MUBI on December 12 at 12 a.m. Pacific, giving subscribers access to Kelly Reichardt’s newest feature. Set in a sedate Massachusetts suburb circa 1970, the film follows an unemployed family man who decides to attempt a carefully planned heist at a small local museum. MUBI confirmed the exclusive streaming release following the film’s debut in competition at Cannes.
The story centers on J.B. Mooney, played by Josh O’Connor, who recruits a small group of accomplices and builds a plan he believes he can pull off. According to Reichardt, the crime is only one layer of what the film explores. “It’s a heist movie, in a sense, but the family and friend dynamics are kind of the main thing,” she says in the production notes. That focus folds the crime into a larger picture about how Mooney’s choices affect the people closest to him.
Reichardt also notes that the idea for the film goes back decades. “In the 90s I thought about doing an art heist film on Super-8,” she recalls. “So it’s been cooking in the back of my mind for a long time.” The film’s setting, shaped by suburban routines and small-town quiet, reflects that long-developing interest in stories built around everyday pressures. It frames the theft as a spark that disrupts Mooney’s work, his home life, and the expectations that follow him.
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Josh O'Connor as J.B. Mooney: Image Courtesy of MUBI.
Behind the camera, the film brings together many of Reichardt’s frequent collaborators. The production design is led by Anthony Gasparro, whose team built much of the museum environment used for the heist sequence.
Cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt returns after working with Reichardt on earlier projects, shaping the look of the suburban neighborhood, the museum interior, and the gradual shift in the film’s tone as events unfold.
The score is composed by Rob Mazurek with percussionist Chad Taylor, adding a jazz-driven sound that reflects the period.
Filming took place partly in Ohio, with additional scenes shot at the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library in Indiana.
The modernist building, designed in the late 1960s, stands in for exterior museum shots and helps situate the film in the era it portrays. Its architecture and open plaza space play a visual role in the museum-centered sequences that anchor Mooney’s plan.
The Mastermind arrives on MUBI as a low-key crime story shaped by its period setting, its family tensions, and the small moments that build around a single bad decision. It gives viewers a chance to settle into a quiet suburban backdrop where every choice leaves a mark, fitting comfortably within Reichardt’s long-running interest in character-driven storytelling.
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