Crime 101 (2026)
Fans of Michael Mann's crime films like Heat and Thief should check out writer/director Bart Layton's strong new caper film Crime 101.
Chris Hemsworth plays Davis, a heist man with a knack for meticulous planning and a commitment to not hurting people in his robberies. When he has a difference of opinion with his de facto boss (Nick Nolte) about the next heist, he starts planning it on his own while the boss has the hotheaded Ormon (Barry Keoghan) follow him.
Davis is targeting the absurdly expensive party favors at the wedding of an obnoxiously wealthy man (Tate Donovan). To get inside info, he needs help from the insurance company covering the goods. For that, he tries to solicit the assistance of Sharon (Halle Berry), a 50-something employee frustrated at being endlessly passed over for promotions by her misogynistic bosses. Meanwhile, a cop (Mark Ruffalo) is hot on Davis' trail.
Layton, who wrote and directed 2018's underrated art caper film American Animals (check it out), skillfully executes all of the movie's heist sequences. An early one introducing Ormon is a master class in incremental escalations of tension throughout the scene. The script also clearly lays out each of the principals' frustrations with the hypocrisies and moral failings of their superiors, whether it's Nolte's crime boss, the insurance bros, or the police brass eager to sweep a wrongful shooting under the rug.
Crime
101 is
exactly the kind of film many people insist Hollywood doesn't make anymore.
They do, but a lot of those same people never show up for them in theaters.
Show up for this one.
