Josh O'Connor starred as a carpenter turned art thief in Kelly Reichardt's The Mastermind, which had its UK premiere at a BFI London Film Festival gala.
Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind had its UK premiere as a BFI London Film Festival gala at the Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank on Monday 13 October 2025. Josh O’Connor, its star, joined Reichardt and Eli Gelb on the carpet.
Born in 1990, O’Connor grew up in Cheltenham. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
He broke through as a gay sheep farmer in Francis Lee’s God’s Own Country, which won him a British Independent Film Award. His Prince Charles in The Crown won an Emmy, and Emma, La chimera and Challengers followed.
Reichardt wrote and directed the film, which is set in Framingham, Massachusetts, in 1970. O’Connor plays JB Mooney, an unemployed carpenter who plots to steal four Arthur Dove paintings. The 1972 robbery of the Worcester Art Museum informed it.
The Mastermind was one of three films O’Connor starred in at the 2025 Festival. It had competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May, and Mubi released it in British cinemas on 24 October.
Alana Haim, Hope Davis, John Magaro, Gaby Hoffmann and Bill Camp complete the cast.