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Released on October 17, 2025, Kelly Reichardt's The Mastermind is a heist film set in the 1970s Massachusetts suburb during the time of the Vietnam War. The cast is led by Josh O’Connor as the carpenter J.B. Mooney, with Alana Haim as his frustrated wife, Terri. The film also features Hope Davis, John Magaro, and Bill Camp, among other actors.
The Mastermind revolves around an unemployed family man who plans a seemingly brilliant, but ultimately reckless, plan to steal four abstract paintings from a local museum. After his failed heist and subsequent abandonment of his family, J.B. Mooney runs out of money and options in the final scenes of the film.
While fleeing toward Canada, he attempts a final theft and is randomly swept up and arrested by police who are dispersing a nearby anti-Vietnam War protest in the final scenes of The Mastermind.
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The Mastermind ending explained: Why J.B. lost the paintings and decided to flee to Canada
The initial success of J.B's heist is short-lived, with the first major blow coming when he loses the stolen artwork. After the police are tipped off by an accomplice who was arrested on another charge, J.B. knows he must flee.
He had hidden the paintings on a farm, planning to sell them through an alleged middleman. However, another man involved in the crime is found by local gangsters. J.B. is cornered by these criminals and forced to reveal where the artwork is stored. The gang then takes the paintings, instantly destroying J.B.’s entire reason for the crime and any hope of a financial gain.
With the paintings gone and police looking for him, J.B. is forced to become a fugitive in the final scenes of The Mastermind. He is completely without funds; his wife, Terri, who is heartbroken over his actions, refuses to wire him money, cutting off his financial support.
Having burned his bridges with his family and with nowhere else to go, J.B.’s last option is to follow a suggestion and try to join a commune in Canada, a move that is less a plan and more a surrender to his fate. In the closing scenes of The Mastermind, J.B. commits a final, shameful act of desperation: he robs an elderly woman to get the cash for his bus ticket to Toronto.
As he leaves the alley, he is swallowed by a large anti-Vietnam War protest that is passing by. In a final, sharply ironic twist, the police sweep through the crowd and randomly arrest him. J.B. is not caught through brilliant detective work for the art theft; he is simply detained as part of the chaotic political climate he had foolishly thought his middle-class background would allow him to ignore.
Streaming on MUBI, The Mastermind is directly inspired by real-life events, specifically the infamous 1972 robbery of the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts, where thieves stole valuable works including two Gauguins, a Picasso, and a Rembrandt.
Stay tuned for more updates.
