The Mastermind

The premise of this movie is great, which I won't recap here. All the actors are great and there are some of my favorites here: Josh O'Connor, Hope Davis, Abi Hoffman. It's the pace that killed this movie for me. I get this is more of a character study than a heist movie, but still, long panning shots of a boarding house room or two characters walking down a country lane while it snows, did nothing to advance my understanding of the character or advance the plot. It really felt like a 60 minute short film stretched to 90+. That said, the performances are well-crafted and interesting.

The Mastermind is a cinematic experience I was compelled tc review purely out of frustration. I gave it a low 3 stars, with those ooints being awarded only because the unintentionally quirky pehavior of the actors made me laugh in a few places. If you finc humor in simpleton behavior in a serious context, you might get a chuckle, but don't mistake this for a comedy-it clearly isn" meant to be one, The film drags, relying on the predictable indie film trope of unnecessary long silences and a repetitive, mood-killing score Every scene felt like filler, with a profound lack of character development and a story that simply refused to progress. I kept expecting a payoff that never materialized.

The ending was perhaps the most frustrating element. It wrapped up with a blunt non-conclusion, leaving gaping plot holes and zero character development, as if the entire film were merelv a prelude to a continuation that mav never come.

For a regular cinema-goer like myself, watching the apparent lack of effort put into the plot and conclusion was insulting. I don't 'ecommend seeing The Mastermind in any scenario, maybe while you're sitting in the throne.

I watched this at London Film Festival and it was really testing my patience. I do not understand what compelled its makers to do this movie? It was a bland plate of nothingness miming serving you food while all you're getting is air!

Quite a shame since I loved Josh O'Conner in Challengers and La Chaimera but this was a complete miss despite his not-so-bad American accent.

Wow, can't believe there's such negativity about this film. It's as though TikTok has made too large an impact, and people are extremely uncomfortable with quiet, meditative moments. My heart was beating fast during much of it, I love how Kelly doesn't spoon-feed the audience with what's exactly happening in every scene. It doesn't make it boring at all, your mind is constantly working, and it's hilarious laughing at these really dumb characters. I thought there was maybe 5-10 minutes of our main character traveling towards the mid-ending where we could've trimmed it slightly, but other than that I absolutely loved the pacing, and it's why I come back to Kelly's films time and time again, rejuvenated that film isn't dead. It's sad so many people are confused by it, I truly don't understand.

I like the main actor. The cinematography was good sometimes. One could argue the movie had its own vibe and style. However, to be frank: it's a voting movie where each scene seems to mean nothing, story threads lead nowhere and the ending just leaves us with questions: what? This was it? What was the point of this movie? I don't think there's was one.