Matt has been writing for MovieWeb since 2021, specializing in horror, animation, and 80s and 90s films. He obtained his first degree in Media Writing from Greenwich University.
In relation to the course, Matthew spent some time writing as an intern for music and lifestyle magazine Guestlist.
Matthew also has a Masters degree in Marketing and has worked several PR jobs where writing duties included creating press releases, quotes and byline-articles.
Nothing can get viewers on the edges of their seats quite like a high-stakes heist movie. Whether it’s the promise of unexpected twists and turns, the intricacy of its elaborate schemes, or the subversion of authority, the genre has been thrilling audiences for over 100 years. The earliest examples can be traced back to the likes of 1903’s The Great Train Robbery and Alias Jimmy Valentine, released in 1915. Naturally, the genre has evolved since, taking on a darker noir tone in the ’30s and ’40s, before establishing the classic heist blueprint that would come to define the genre in the ’50s. Movies like The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and The Killing (1956) formalized the notion of a carefully assembled crew, an intricate plan, and the inevitable complication or obstacle.
The turn of the century marked a new era of heist thrillers influenced by the internet boom and the era’s technological advancements, with hacking, surveillance, and digital manipulation replacing many old-school physical methods. Inspired by the overwhelming success of Steven Soderbergh’s highly stylized remake of Ocean’s Eleven, the genre’s focus shifted towards slick ensemble casts, the placement of hidden clues, and highly stylized execution. More recently, though, we’ve seen a slew of heist movies, like Hell or High Water and Dragged Across Concrete, which prioritize psychological and thematic depth over glossy spectacle, ushering in a new era for the genre.
With this in mind, we invite you to assemble your crew and buckle up because, here, we’re looking at the very best heist thrillers released since 2000, and ranking them.
10 ‘Logan Lucky’ (2017)
Having already established himself as the 21st century’s king of heist thrillers thanks to the enormous success of his Ocean’s trilogy, director Steven Soderbergh replaces glamor, hi-tech gadgetry, and slick charm with dry wit and blue-collar, improvisational ingenuity with Logan Lucky. The result is a critically acclaimed but criminally under-seen crime caper that’s as thrilling as it is funny. Featuring an all-star ensemble cast that includes Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Seth MacFarlane, Katie Holmes, Hilary Swank, and Sebastian Stan, it tells the story of a quirky crew of good ol’ guys and gals, led by two formally estranged brothers, as they embark on a daring heist during a NASCAR race.
Logan Lucky was praised for its smart writing and strong acting, with Daniel Craig, in particular, being commended for his against-type portrayal of the maniacal demolitions expert Joe Bang, establishing him as a captivating and versatile actor outside his Bond career. While it might not have experienced the same level of commercial success as others on this list or feature quite the level of glossy spectacle of Soderbergh’s Ocean’s films, Logan Lucky’s clever plotting, memorable characters, and refreshingly grounded and irreverent take on the modern heist genre more than warrant its placement here.
9 ‘Inside Man’ (2006)
Directed by revered auteur Spike Lee, Inside Man stars Denzel Washington as Detective Keith Frazier, who is called in to investigate an elaborate bank heist that has escalated into a hostage crisis. Masterminded by Dalton Russell, played by Clive Owen, it quickly becomes apparent that little about this heist is as it seems. What follows is a tense, psychological game of cat-and-mouse full of twists, turns, deception, and hidden motives.
Inside Man ditches the often overtly political or socially charged themes found in Lee’s typical output and, instead, focuses on delivering a solid, “to-the-point” genre flick. That’s certainly not to say that it’s unoriginal or unexciting; it is steeped in intrigue and suspense and features one of the genre’s most shocking twist endings, making it perfect for fans of heist thrillers looking for something that feels both comfortably familiar yet totally novel.
8 ‘Baby Driver’ (2017)
Baby Driver is a fast-paced heist thriller starring Ansel Elgort as a skilled young getaway driver who is coerced into one last job when a heist goes awry, forcing him to navigate a perilous path to secure his freedom and future. Directed by Edgar Wright and featuring an electrifying soundtrack, the movie also stars Jon Hamm, Eiza Gonzalez, Lily James, and Jamie Foxx.
Baby Driver feels utterly unique in its execution, dancing its way onto the silver screen with a choreography of action and music intertwined into an octane-fueled ballet that scored 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and pirouetted its way to a box office of over $226 million worldwide. While more about visual spectacle than the actual intricacies of the heist, Elgort’s magnetic performance, the film’s stylish direction, and the innovative use of music captivates audiences in a way rarely seen in modern cinema.
7 ‘Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead’ (2007)
Directed by legendary filmmaker Sidney Lumet (best known for the likes of 12 Angry Men and Dog Day Afternoon), Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead is fundamentally a heist film centered on two brothers planning on robbing their parents’ jewelry store. Scratch below the surface, though, and it tells a bleak tale of familial fallout, psychological torment, and moral deterioration. Because the story is presented through a fractured, non-linear narrative with moments constantly being revisited from varying perspectives, the audience’s perception of the events leading to the botched heist is always shifting.
This unique approach to storytelling and focus on drama over typical crime tropes makes for an altogether more cerebral viewing experience, elevating it above the average run-of-the-mill heist thriller. Hailed as a spectacular return to form for Lumet, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke’s tour-de-force performances as the Hanson brothers, combined with its taut and intimate direction, psychological drama, and intricate exploration of family dysfunction, landed it at the top of multiple year-end “best of” lists and earned it universal acclaim.
6 ‘Dragged Across Concrete’ (2018)
Following the critical success of Hacksaw Ridge and Brawl in Cell Block 99, released in 2016 and 2017, respectively, Vince Vaughn once again plays against type in the gritty crime thriller Dragged Across Concrete. Shedding all signs of the “lovable lug” persona he had become typecast as, he portrays the world-weary, grizzled detective Anthony Lurasetti, a man prepared to bend the rules and resort to extreme violence should the occasion call for it. Alongside him is Detective Brett Ridgeman, played by Mel Gibson, an actor who has built a career on playing morally ambiguous anti-heroes. However, Dragged Across Concrete once again subverts audience expectations by having him play the more morally grounded, stabilizing yin to Ridgeman’s unpredictable yang.
After the two fall victim to bureaucratic failings and a corrupt system, they find themselves suspended from the force and turn to a high-stakes heist scheme targeting a high-ranking drug dealer. The plan quickly unravels, landing them in a violent web of betrayal, greed, and moral compromise. It’s a refreshing take on the genre that is brutal, gritty, and unflinching, focusing on raw realism, psychological tension, and the moral complexity of its characters over the glamor and glossy sheen seen in so many heist movies.
5 ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ (2001)
With its all-star cast, high production values, and glamorous world of high-stakes heists, Ocean’s Eleven was primed for box-office success. Earning over $450 million worldwide, it quickly became the highest-grossing heist movie of all time, a position it held for nearly 10 years until it was overtaken by Inception. It has since spawned a further two sequels and a spin-off, with a prequel and another sequel reportedly in the works. A remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film of the same name, it revolves around Danny Ocean, played by George Clooney, and his crew, who plan an elaborate heist of $160 million from a casino owner who is also the lover of Ocean’s ex-wife.
Masterfully blending tension and humor, Ocean’s Eleven is clever and complex but never overly convoluted. Oozing coolness and charisma, Clooney and his costars captivate from the moment they make their first entrance to the satisfying finale. A modern masterpiece, Steven Soderbergh’s sleek, stylish direction employs smooth tracking shots, elegant framing, and a jazzy soundtrack work together to create a film that is pure escapism. While some characters may feel slightly one-dimensional compared to other, more morally complex characters on this list, and while some have accused it of favoring style over substance, the sheer fun factor alone is reason enough to justify its inclusion.
4 ‘Drive’ (2011)
Drive somehow, and rather impressively, manages to feel as gritty, grimy, raw, and uncompromising as Dragged Across Concrete, yet as polished, stylized, cool, and effortlessly sick as Ocean’s 11. Receiving universal acclaim, Ryan Gosling delivers a career-defining masterclass in minimalist acting as an unnamed Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver. After discovering his friend and neighbor’s husband has recently been released from prison and that he and her family are riddled with debt, he embarks on a million-dollar heist with the husband. As the plan quickly begins to unravel, he is plunged into one of the most shocking and violent descents into chaos the genre has ever seen.
Oozing charisma whilst barely uttering a word, Gosling is given practically no dialogue, conveying every emotion purely through his commanding physical performance whilst simultaneously driving the narrative and sustaining an intense, relentless sense of tension. Despite its high-stakes heist premise, its A-lister lead performance, and its glossy sheen, Drive is essentially an arthouse picture, defined by minimalist storytelling, stylized violence, and an obsessive focus on mood and atmosphere over exposition.
3 ‘Inception’ (2010)
Known for its ambitious, mind-bending concept and its jaw-dropping visual effects, it is easy to forget that, at its heart, Inception is a heist movie. In fact, it’s the highest-grossing heist movie of all time, earning a whopping $839 million at the box office. Directed by Christopher Nolan, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets. Recruited by an enigmatic Japanese businessman on the promise of having his criminal record erased, he assembles a crack team of “extractors” and prepares to carry out their most daring mission to date. Introducing a fresh twist on the heist premise, he is tasked with planting information as opposed to extracting it, essentially carrying out a “reverse” heist.
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A heist thriller for surrealists and sci-fi enthusiasts, Inception received widespread critical acclaim and was showered with accolades, including four Oscar wins. DiCaprio, along with every member of the talented ensemble cast, which includes the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, and Michael Caine, is on point and fully committed. Not only is the story compelling both viscerally and intellectually, the cinematography is breathtaking and Hans Zimmer’s score is dense and layered, resulting in one of the century’s greatest movies.
2 ‘Snatch’ (2000)
Often considered the British equivalent of Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie, before he shot to global superstardom, was known for his gritty British gangster flicks infused with violence and a brash sense of dark, distinctly British sense of humor. The boldest and arguably best of these is Snatch. Featuring an ensemble cast which includes some of Britain’s finest actors, including Stephen Graham, Vinnie Jones, and Jason Statham, alongside Hollywood heavyweights Brad Pitt and Benicio del Toro, Snatch tells two separate and distinct stories which are cleverly intertwined through overlapping events. The first is the heist story in which Franky “Four Fingers” brings a massive 86-carat diamond to London, setting off a frantic, comical, and violent search for the stone among various criminals. The second sees a boxing promoter getting caught up in match fixing and England’s ruthless criminal underbelly.
Riding high off the success of his debut feature Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, not only did Snatch manage to maintain everything that made Lock Stock so enjoyable – the twisting, interlinking storylines, the colorful characters, snappy dialogue, the dark humor, and balls-to-the-wall violence – it actually managed to do it bigger, better, and bolder. Exhilarating from start to finish and endlessly quotable, the film became a commercial and critical success, cementing Guy Ritchie as one of the industry’s most sought-after directors.
1 ‘The Town’ (2010)
A tense heist thriller, The Town manages to deliver non-stop action without ever cutting back on story, character development, or atmosphere. The plot revolves around a gang of bank robbers planning their next big heist. Things get complicated, though, when one of the robbers develops romantic feelings for a previous victim of theirs.
Ben Affleck’s directorial debut was 2007’s Gone Baby Gone, and quite frankly, following a string of commercial and critical acting disappointments, it was a revelation. Affleck proved it was no fluke, either, and came back even stronger with his second picture, The Town, a winning streak he continued with the Oscar-winning Argo. Like Gone Baby Gone, Ben Affleck’s direction in The Town masterfully captures the grit and authenticity of Boston, blending raw, emotional storytelling with a deep, lived-in understanding of the city’s streets, culture, and criminal underbelly. Bolstered by a slew of remarkable performances from the likes of Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, and rapper Slaine – and featuring one of the most heat-pounding, nerve-shredding shoot-outs ever committed to film – The Town rightfully deserves its spot atop this list.
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The Town
R
Crime
Drama
Thriller
Release Date September 17, 2010
Runtime 125 minutes
Director Ben Affleck
Writers Aaron Stockard, Ben Affleck, Peter Craig
Producers Basil Iwanyk, Graham King
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