The heist genre has plenty of tropes that pop up in most movies, so it’s interesting to see heist movies which take things in a different direction. The standard for the heist genre has been set by movies like Ocean’s Eleven, Heat and Rififi. Because of the success of these movies, many heist movies are about a criminal mastermind orchestrating an elaborate scheme with a team of specialists, but this isn’t always the case.
Some of the best heist movies ever are those which dare to be different. The genre gets a lot of its appeal from surprising its audience, so it’s refreshing to see some completely original ideas which shake up the genre. Movies like American Animals, Small Time Crooks and Ruben Brandt, Collector prove that there’s space to innovate within the confines of the heist genre.
10
Ruben Brandt, Collector (2018)
A Hidden Gem With Gorgeous Visuals
Ruben Brandt, Collector follows an art therapist who ᴀssembles a crew to steal the famous paintings which have been haunting his dreams. The animation style is wonderfully unique, with visual allusions to Pablo Picᴀsso and a whole host of other artists, but this is just one way the film comments on art.
The animation style is wonderfully unique, with visual allusions to Pablo Picᴀsso and a whole host of other artists.
Ruben Brandt, Collector is about the power of art to soothe the soul, and the collective experiences that art can inspire. The animation drives this point home, but the trippy dream sequences and the exciting action scenes are just as compelling. Ruben’s crime spree is driven by psychological pain, not greed.
9
Gambit (1966)
Michael Caine Stars In A Twisty Crime Caper
Michael Caine loves a heist movie, appearing in thrillers from The Italian Job to Now You See Me and Going in Style. Gambit is arguably his best, partly because of his wonderful comedic chemistry with Shirley MacLaine, but also because its intelligent structure deconstructs the subgenre from within.
Gambit shows an elaborate, cunning heist executed to perfection, only for a twist to reveal that this is merely an imagined fantasy. The reality that follows is completely unrecognizable, as everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. In this way, Gambit shows the inherent artifice of the heist genre, so when it opts for an indulgent, romantic ending, it feels earned.
8
The Killing (1956)
Stanley Kubrick’s Non-Linear Plot Is Filled With Twists
The Killing is an underrated gem in Stanley Kubrick’s filmography. It doesn’t get as much love as some of his later works like 2001: A Space Odyssey or The Shining, but it’s just as experimental in its own way. The Killing‘s non-linear plot reconstructs a racetrack heist in a way that ensures there are plenty of twists and turns.
A lot of The Killing‘s quirks seem commonplace now, but that’s only because this is one of the early heist movies that helped set the agenda for the genre. The storytelling structure is one thing that’s still strikingly different. It keeps the audience guessing as to the motivations, relationships and fates of the characters, right until the iconic ending at the airport.
7
Army Of The ᴅᴇᴀᴅ (2021)
Army Of The ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Is A Wild Genre Mashup
Zack Snyder’s movies have a reputation for chaotic excess, and Army of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ shows what he’s truly inclined to make without much studio oversight. Netflix gave Snyder full control of Army of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ and the result is an overblown deluge of decomposing showgirls, nonsensical action and zombie tigers.
Army of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ is a zombie movie and a gun-toting action flick as much as it’s a heist movie. There’s an eclectic team of professionals pulled together to do a job, but the most important member isn’t the safecracker or the brains behind the operation; it’s Dave Bautista’s action hero archetype. This sums up Army of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ‘s all-out approach to sheer entertainment, plot holes and logic be damned.
6
Logan Lucky (2017)
Steven Soderbergh Puts A Clever Spin On His Classic Formula
Steven Soderbergh is known for the Ocean‘s franchise and Out of Sight, making him an important figure in the history of the heist genre. Logan Lucky sees him returning to familiar territory, but he puts a delicious spin on the established formula that he himself helped to create.
One obvious aesthetic difference is that Logan Lucky takes place in Appalachia, far from the glitz and glamor of George Clooney and Brad Pitt in Las Vegas. What’s more interesting is the way that Soderbergh extends Logan Lucky beyond the normal victorious finale of the heist genre. After successfully completing the job, the Logan brothers are put under pressure by law enforcement, and the movie turns into an anxious detective drama.
5
Cat Burglar (2022)
Netflix’s Interactive Movie Evokes Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies
Cat Burglar is such a unique and unusual prospect that it’s questionable whether it can truly be classified as a heist movie. Charlie Brooker had previous experience of making interactive films thanks to the Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch, although Cat Burglar is designed to appeal to a younger audience.
Cat Burglar is a quick-fire trivia game, in which the player’s answers determine how successful Rowdy’s attempts to break into a museum will be. The cartoon style is a nod to Tex Avery, with as many violent exposions and booby traps as any of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner’s clashes. The heist element is secondary, but still a great hook, placing the player in the shoes of a robber much like any other heist movie.
4
American Animals (2018)
American Animals Blends Fact And Fiction
American Animals is a fascinating mixture of fiction and reality, telling the story of a real-life art heist using interviews and reconstructions. Part documentary and part thriller, American Animals shows up the way that the heist genre can ignore victims, take huge leaps of logic and gloss over the moral implications of crime.
There aren’t many heist movies based on reality, and there are even fewer which interrogate the truth quite like American Animals. There are a few conflicting testimonies from different interviewees, and some of the reconstructed scenes don’t line up with what people say. It makes for a fascinating true-crime thriller that’s stranger than fiction.
3
Small Time Crooks (2000)
A Standard Heist Plot Quickly Flies Off The Rails
Small Time Crooks starts like many other heist movies, as a group of thieves attempt to tunnel into a bank, creating a phony bakery as cover. To the surprise of everyone, the bakery takes off, and the thieves abandon their heist to live large on the profits from their new cookie empire.
Small Time Crooks highlights that the planning of the heist is always more satisfying than the score, for both the robbers and the audience. Even when they live like millionaires, there’s a hollowness and isolation to their existence that never existed before. This demonstrates how the heist genre is all about fantasy.
2
Inside (2023)
Willem Dafoe Stars In The Ultimate Heist Gone Wrong
There are plenty of great heist movies which are all about the fallout, rather than the build-up. Reservoir Dogs, A Fish Called Wanda and Snatch are some of the most famous examples, but Inside takes this idea and pushes it much further. Willem Dafoe stars as a thief who gets abandoned inside a luxurious apartment after a break-in goes horribly wrong.
Inside is mostly a single-character, single-location movie that subverts the usual tension of the heist genre. As the thief suffers from his extended imprisonment, his sanity starts to slip, but there are also long periods of monotony. The heist movie gradually morphs into a jailbreak movie, as desperation sets in and the thief
1
The Duke (2022)
The Duke Is A Charming Treat
There have been plenty of British crime capers, even those with older characters aren’t unusual, but there are a few things which make The Duke stand out. The first is that the story of a 60-year-old working-class Englishman stealing a Goya from the National Portrait Gallery is based on an unbelievable true story.
There have been plenty of British crime capers, but there are a few things which make The Duke stand out.
The Duke is a charming comedy that just so happens to also fall under the heist genre, but this doesn’t mean that it can’t also have some fun with the format. With a tangled storyline and a surprisingly tense robbery, The Duke ticks many of the heist genre’s boxes. The difference is that it’s pedestrian sensibilities don’t align with the shocking nature of the genre, or even the robbery in question. Such is the strange ordeal of Bunton’s famous art heist.
