Stanley Tucci is assembling an unlikely crime team for one of the most ambitious art heists imaginable in Masterplan, a new French-Italian action-comedy coming to Prime Video.
The first trailer for Masterplan introduces audiences to Roger, a highly skilled master thief played by Tucci, who has a very unusual plan: steal Leonardo da Vinci’s legendary Mona Lisa.
But the biggest surprise isn’t the target.
It’s the team Roger chooses to carry out the impossible job.
Rather than assembling a conventional group of professional criminals, Roger recruits two highly specialized young experts, Chiara, played by The White Lotus Season 2 actress Simona Tabasco, and Jay, played by Bastion 36 actor Victor Belmondo.
Chiara is a gifted hacking specialist, while Jay is an explosives expert. Their individual skills could make them valuable members of a sophisticated heist crew.
There is, however, one enormous complication.
Roger reveals that Chiara and Jay are siblings.
And then comes the bigger revelation: Roger is their father.
Suddenly, what begins as an elaborate criminal operation becomes an extremely awkward family reunion.
The new film combines international crime-movie elements with family comedy, creating a story in which the members of the crew have to overcome not only security systems, explosives and law enforcement, but also years of complicated family dynamics.
Masterplan is written by Thomas Vincent and David Wolstencroft and directed by Vincent.
The movie is scheduled to begin streaming on Prime Video on October 16.
Stanley Tucci Plays a Master Thief With a Complicated Family Secret
At the center of Masterplan is Roger, a professional thief with the experience and confidence needed to attempt an almost impossible robbery.
Stanley Tucci brings his considerable screen presence to the role, playing a character who appears to be comfortable operating in the world of elaborate criminal schemes.
Roger’s target is not an ordinary piece of artwork.
It is the Mona Lisa, one of the most recognizable paintings in the world.
The scale of the proposed robbery immediately establishes the tone of the movie.
This isn’t simply a story about breaking into a bank or stealing an expensive object from a private collection.
Roger wants to pull off what the movie presents as “the heist of the century.”
To do that, he needs people with very specific abilities.
That’s where Chiara and Jay enter the picture.
But Roger isn’t just hiring them because they’re talented.
He has a personal connection to both of them that neither appears prepared to deal with.
The Heist Crew Is Also a Family
The most unusual element of Masterplan is the relationship between its three central characters.
Roger isn’t simply recruiting Chiara and Jay as specialists.
He is bringing his children into his criminal operation.
According to the film’s premise, Chiara and Jay discover that they are siblings when Roger tells them the truth about their family.
That revelation changes the nature of their relationship almost immediately.
Imagine being recruited for the biggest criminal operation of your life, only to discover that your new employer is actually your father and the other person standing beside you is your sibling.
That’s the unusual situation at the heart of Masterplan.
The story therefore has two different kinds of tension.
There is the conventional tension of a heist movie: Can the team get past the security systems? Can they steal the Mona Lisa? Can they escape before authorities arrive?
Then there is the family tension: Can these three people actually work together?
The official premise describes the group as being thrown into a chaotic reunion they never asked for.
They must learn how to cooperate while also trying not to destroy their already complicated family relationship.
That combination gives Masterplan its action-comedy identity.
Simona Tabasco Plays Hacking Expert Chiara
Simona Tabasco, known internationally for her role in the second season of The White Lotus, plays Chiara.
Her character is described as a “hacking wizard.”
That makes Chiara one of the most technologically capable members of Roger’s team.
In a modern heist movie, hacking expertise can be just as important as physical strength.
Security cameras, electronic locks, digital surveillance and sophisticated computer systems can make traditional burglary extremely difficult.
A specialist like Chiara could potentially help the team navigate the technological side of the operation.
But her technical abilities may not be enough to deal with Roger’s biggest surprise.
Discovering that the man who recruited her is actually her father completely changes the dynamic between them.
Instead of simply being the team’s technology expert, Chiara becomes one of the key members of an unexpectedly dysfunctional family.
Victor Belmondo Plays Explosives Expert Jay
Victor Belmondo plays Jay, the team’s explosives specialist.
Belmondo is known for his work in French-language productions, including Bastion 36, and Masterplan places him in a very different type of role.
Jay’s particular expertise gives the team another crucial advantage.
While Chiara can deal with technological obstacles, Jay brings the physical expertise required when conventional methods aren’t enough.
That makes the pair a natural complement to Roger’s experience.
However, the family revelation means their professional partnership could become complicated.
Jay and Chiara have to figure out how to trust each other while also processing the fact that they are siblings.
The movie’s comedy appears to come partly from this clash between the seriousness of the mission and the absurdity of their family situation.
Why the Mona Lisa?
Choosing the Mona Lisa as the target immediately raises the stakes.
Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece is among the world’s most famous works of art, making it an almost impossible target for a group of thieves.
A heist involving such a famous painting naturally creates questions about security, logistics and escape.
How do you steal something so recognizable?
How do you transport it?
Where could you possibly hide it?
And perhaps most importantly, what happens when the entire world realizes that it has disappeared?
Masterplan appears to use those questions as the foundation for its central adventure.
Instead of a small-scale robbery, Roger has chosen a target that could turn his team into international fugitives.
That enormous objective also fits the movie’s title.
Roger isn’t attempting an ordinary criminal job.
He has a master plan.
Masterplan Blends Heist Movie and Family Comedy
Heist movies traditionally revolve around assembling a team of specialists.
Each member has a particular skill.
One character might be a safecracker.
Another might be an expert driver.
Another could handle technology.
Another might be responsible for planning.
Masterplan follows some of those familiar conventions but adds a major twist.
The specialists are family.
That means the movie can use the structure of a traditional heist film while exploring relationships between people who don’t necessarily know how to behave like a family.
Roger may be an experienced thief, but being a father appears to be a different challenge.
Chiara and Jay may be exceptionally talented in their respective fields, but they still have to process their newly revealed relationship.
The result is a setup where the criminal operation and family reunion become connected.
If the team succeeds, they could accomplish an extraordinary theft.
If they fail, they could end up arrested.
But even before the authorities get involved, they could potentially drive each other crazy.
That combination gives the film plenty of opportunities for action as well as humor.
A French-Italian Production With an International Cast
Masterplan is described as a French-Italian action-comedy heist film, giving the project an international character that matches its ambitious story.
The cast combines established international talent with performers known for European cinema and television.
Tucci provides a recognizable Hollywood presence as Roger, while Tabasco and Belmondo bring younger energy to the central team.
The international nature of the production also fits naturally with a story involving a world-famous piece of art.
The Mona Lisa is not merely a French cultural icon.
It is recognized around the globe.
A movie built around stealing it can therefore operate on an international scale while maintaining its character-driven comedy.
Thomas Vincent Directs the Film
Masterplan is directed by Thomas Vincent, who also co-writes the screenplay with David Wolstencroft.
Their script combines the mechanics of an elaborate heist with the complications of a family reunion.
That balance will be crucial to the movie.
A heist film needs enough suspense to make the central operation feel meaningful.
An action comedy, meanwhile, needs characters whose personalities can generate humor even when everything goes wrong.
Masterplan appears to be designed around that balance.
Roger’s professionalism can clash with his children’s reactions.
Chiara’s technical confidence may not translate into confidence around her newly discovered family.
Jay’s explosives expertise could become useful in situations that are far more chaotic than the original plan anticipated.
Together, those personalities create a crew that is potentially as unpredictable as the mission itself.
When Does Masterplan Premiere on Prime Video?
Masterplan is scheduled to begin streaming on Prime Video on October 16.
The movie is being positioned as an action-comedy rather than a straight crime thriller, meaning audiences can expect the central heist to be accompanied by humor arising from the unusual family dynamic.
The film’s premise offers a straightforward question: Can Roger, Chiara and Jay actually work together long enough to steal the Mona Lisa?
But there is another question underneath it.
Can a master thief who apparently spent years keeping his family life complicated suddenly become a father figure to two adult children?
The answers are likely to form the emotional side of the story.
What Makes Masterplan Different From Other Heist Movies?
The basic ingredients of Masterplan may sound familiar: a master criminal, a carefully selected team, a priceless target and an impossible mission.
But the family twist changes the formula.
The central team doesn’t simply have to trust one another professionally.
They have to confront a personal relationship they didn’t expect to have.
That gives the movie an additional source of conflict.
In a traditional heist, a disagreement between team members might result from money or conflicting loyalties.
In Masterplan, arguments can be much more personal.
Roger’s decisions affect his children.
Chiara and Jay must decide how much they trust their father.
And all three have to separate their personal problems from the criminal mission.
That creates the possibility for comedy even when the stakes are high.
The Biggest Question: Can They Pull It Off?
Stealing the Mona Lisa would be an extraordinary challenge for almost any criminal crew.
Doing it while dealing with a newly revealed family relationship could be even harder.
That’s the central hook of Masterplan.
Roger believes his experience and his team’s specialized talents are enough to accomplish the impossible.
Chiara brings advanced hacking skills.
Jay brings explosives expertise.
And Roger brings years of experience as a master thief.
On paper, it sounds like a highly capable team.
In practice, their biggest weakness might be each other.
The movie’s title suggests that Roger has carefully planned everything.
But family relationships rarely follow a plan.
That tension between careful preparation and unpredictable personalities could become one of the film’s main sources of comedy.
Final Thoughts
Masterplan takes the familiar ingredients of a major heist movie and adds an unusual family twist.
Stanley Tucci leads the film as Roger, a master thief who assembles a specialized crew for an almost impossible mission: stealing the Mona Lisa.
His recruits are Chiara, a brilliant hacker played by Simona Tabasco, and Jay, an explosives expert played by Victor Belmondo.
Then comes the revelation that changes everything.
Chiara and Jay are siblings.
Roger is their father.
Now the three must work together to execute one of the most ambitious robberies imaginable while attempting to navigate a family relationship that is already off to a chaotic start.
Directed by Thomas Vincent and written by Vincent and David Wolstencroft, the French-Italian action comedy combines crime, technology, family drama and humor around a very recognizable target.
The film is scheduled to begin streaming on Prime Video on October 16.
For viewers who enjoy elaborate heist stories but want something with a different emotional and comedic angle, Masterplan offers an intriguing setup: a master thief, two highly skilled children, one priceless masterpiece and a family reunion that could go spectacularly wrong.
The question isn’t only whether Roger’s crew can steal the Mona Lisa.
It’s whether this very unusual family can survive the job together.