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Cannes 2025: why we can’t wait to see The Mastermind starring Josh O’Connor
Kelly Reichardt’s upcoming film, The Mastermind, features British actor Josh O’Connor—best known for The Crown and recently seen in Challengers. In this film, he plays an art thief during the Vietnam War. Here’s everything we know so far about this feature selected for the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
Josh O’Connor in Challengers (2024) © Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Mastermind, Kelly Reichardt’s new movie starring Josh O’Connor
After a standout performance in Luca Guadagnino’s ultra-sporty and sultry film Challengers, Josh O’Connor is shifting gears for his next project. The British actor, who also starred in Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera, is teaming up once again with an acclaimed director: Kelly Reichardt (Certain Women, First Cow).
Known for his roles in The Crown (2016) and more recently Lee Miller (2024), the actor takes center stage in this drama produced by streaming platform MUBI. Titled The Mastermind, the film casts O’Connor as an artist plotting the theft of valuable artworks during the Vietnam War. He stars alongside the brilliant Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza), whose role remains under wraps.
The Mastermind and The History of Sound at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival
Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind is part of the official competition at the 78th Cannes Film Festival. Even more surprising, it’s not the only film featuring O’Connor to be screened on the Croisette.
He also stars opposite Paul Mescal (Gladiator 2) in The History of Sound, the latest film by Oliver Hermanus. Based on a short story by Ben Shattuck, the film is described as a gay romance set against the backdrop of World War I and the New England countryside.
Josh O’Connor and Daniel Craig in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025) © Netflix.
Gay Romance, Steven Spielberg… Josh O’Connor’s meteoric rise
Although Kelly Reichardt’s new film has already piqued our interest, it’s only one of several thrilling projects for Josh O’Connor. In the coming years, he’ll star opposite Léa Seydoux in a new Luca Guadagnino film titled Chambres Séparées, a gay romance.
In 2025, he’ll also reunite with Daniel Craig for the latest installment in the Knives Out series, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, which also stars Cailee Spaeny, Kerry Washington, and Glenn Close.
Another major project: Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film, in which O’Connor stars opposite Emily Blunt. The feature, centered around a UFO story, remains shrouded in mystery.
The Mastermind by Kelly Reichardt does not yet have a release date.
