Does 2025's The Mastermind offer a prequel to 2016's flop comedy Masterminds? No, but I couldn't think of a better intro so there you go.

Set in 1970, JB Mooney (Josh O'Connor) struggles to eke out a living as a carpenter. Eager for cash, he devises a scheme to steal four valuable paintings from a local museum.

JB hires three locals to assist with this task. Inevitably, matters go awry and send JB on a complicated path.

"Heist gone wrong" doesn't exactly exist as a novelty in terms of narratives. Indeed, a movie about a robbery that comes with zero complications would seem pretty dull.

The question becomes whether or not Mastermind adds a winning entry in this particular genre. I would say yes, though it takes a decidedly unusual approach to the topic.

Partly a comedy, Mastermind provides a subtle spoof of heist flicks. The actual crime itself becomes a minor – and forgettable – part of the narrative, so most of the film follows the aftermath.

Which it also examines in a less than scintillating manner. With a suburban dad as the primary “criminal”, we get a tale that juxtaposes JB’s shenanigans with his ordinary life.

As such, if you expect thrills from Mastermind, you’ll come up empty. However, if you find yourself open to a quirky twist on the genre, you seem more likely to enjoy it.

Mastermind leans in the direction of a dim-witted protagonist who gets in over his head, though it doesn’t embrace that concept to a broad degree. Plenty of tales of this sort go that way but we don’t see JB as a cartoony dimwit.

Yes, JB appears to think of himself as brighter than he is. However, he never gets portrayed as a dope, a factor that adds to the film’s impact.

Mastermind likes to toy with heist film conventions, mainly via the propulsive jazz score of the sort that we would expect from a typical genre effort. Because the story never embraces what we anticipate, the musical accompaniment ends up as ironic.

All of this may make Mastermind a tough slog given the path one would think it would follow. So much of the story pursues bland life moments and the dull logistics of JB’s attempts to escape apprehension that it can feel stuck in neutral.

However, I like this emphasis, as it really does create an interesting twist on conventions. Without the usual danger and thrills, Mastermind pursues what seems like a more realistic portrayal of how a tale like this would evolve.

Mastermind may test viewer patience at times. Nonetheless, I like its unusual orientation and find it to offer an intriguing variation on its genre.

The Mastermind appears in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though apparently a native 4K production, the cinematography of Mastermind meant the movie tended to look surprisingly flat.

Definition leaned a bit soft, as a lot of the movie came with a gauzy vibe. Plenty of shots still displayed appealing delineation but the flick definitely veered toward a loose feel more than occasionally.

No concerns with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. The film boasted a layer of grain – perhaps added in post – and no print flaws popped up here.

The film’s palette went with an intentionally drab sense of amber along with some blue/teal. The colors looked appropriately subdued.

Blacks seemed acceptably deep, while low-light shots offered fairly solid clarity. Again, the photographic decisions meant this would remain a somewhat murky image, but I suspect the Blu-ray reproduced it as intended.

Don’t expect a lot of sonic fireworks from the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. In general, this became a low-key mix for a low-key story.

The jazzy score used the stereo front channels to good advantage, and the soundscape came with an appealing sense of place and movement. The soundfield simply lacked much to stand out as memorable, and surround usage seemed to support the forward domain without much else involved.

Audio quality satisfied, as speech appeared concise and crisp. Though effects didn’t get much to do, they came across as accurate and full.

Music fared best of all, as the score sounded rich and dynamic. Expect a soundtrack that suited the film.

Unwinding the Heist Film goes for 14 minutes, 26 seconds. It provides a “visual essay” from film programmer Amos Levin, though it also gives us some comments from writer/director Kelly Reichardt.

“Unwinding” looks at the movie’s story/characters as well as its influences and its reflection of the heist flick genre. The reel offers an informative investigation of these domains.

Six picture cards show some aspects of the film. They don’t add much to the set but they cause no harm.

Essentially a deconstruction of the heist movie, Mastermind revels in the mundane and avoids many overt thrills. This makes it a slow-moving but nonetheless largely engrossing riff on the genre. The Blu-ray comes with intentionally drab visuals as well as appropriate audio and minor supplements. While not a crowd-pleaser, Mastermind accomplishes its goals.