Home / Arts and Entertainment / Acclaimed Director Kelly Reichardt Ventures into Unexpected Territory with "The Mastermind"
Acclaimed Director Kelly Reichardt Ventures into Unexpected Territory with "The Mastermind"
18 Oct
Summary
- Reichardt's latest film "The Mastermind" is an art heist movie set in New England, a departure from her usual Pacific Northwest settings
- The film stars Josh O'Connor as a working-class man who impulsively robs his local art museum, with Reichardt more interested in exploring his psyche than the heist itself
- Reichardt was inspired to set the film on the East Coast, where she has spent more time teaching at Bard College, and to explore the concept of a small town supporting its own art museum
In October 2025, acclaimed filmmaker Kelly Reichardt surprised her fans by unveiling a new project that marked a departure from her usual Pacific Northwest settings. "The Mastermind," Reichardt's latest film, is an art heist movie set in the East Coast town of Framingham, Massachusetts.
Loosely inspired by a 1970 news story about an art museum robbery in Worcester, the film stars Josh O'Connor as J.B. Mooney, a working-class family man who ruins his life after impulsively deciding to steal from his local art museum. However, Reichardt is far more interested in exploring Mooney's psyche than dazzling the audience with heist spectacle.
The director, who spends much of her time teaching at Bard College in upstate New York, was eager to shift the setting away from Oregon, which had been the backdrop for most of her previous films. "I wanted to get out of Oregon for a bit and have a new landscape to look at," Reichardt explained in a recent interview. "Being from New York and originally from Florida, Oregon was so unique to me, but I needed a change."
Reichardt found inspiration in the original 1970 news story about the Worcester art heist, which gave her a starting point to explore the tragically dated concept of a small town maintaining its own art museum. "That size of city, the industrial town that has a little museum, that the sort of middle-class residents are keeping going, that's Massachusetts to me," she said.
With its meditative pacing and focus on character over plot, "The Mastermind" is undoubtedly a Reichardt film, even if it may seem like a departure on the surface. The director's long-time collaborators, including cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt and production designer Anthony Gasparro, helped bring her vision to life in this latest cinematic exploration.
