This is the eighth in a series of articles where we’ll be covering the Top Heist Films. Films About Heists also include Films About Capers, Films About Thieves, Films About Bank Robberies, Films About Armored Car Robberies and Films About Bank Heists. In general, this subgenre covers anything to do with armed robbers or thieves.
This eighth article will cover the Best Recent Heist Films from 2020 – 2023 and you can check out additional articles by decade below. We are also going to include a Best Of subgenre article as a grand finale. There are so many great Heist films over the last 60 years that we felt it best to break down some of the subgenre’s forgotten and lesser-known gems by decade before we give you the Best Of list which will likely feature many films you’ve already heard of or have seen.
- Top Heist Films You Haven’t Seen – 1970’s
- Top Heist Films You Haven’t Seen – 1980’s
- Top Heist Films You Haven’t Seen – 1990’s
- Top Heist Films You Haven’t Seen – 2000 – 2004
- Top Heist Films You Haven’t Seen – 2005 – 2009
- Top Heist Films You Haven’t Seen – 2010 – 2014
- Top Heist Films You Haven’t Seen – 2015 – 2019
- Best Recent Heist Films
- Best Heist Films
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a significant impact on the film industry for the first few years of the decade. As a result, there was a significant reduction in film releases and some films had to work within pandemic restrictions such as Locked Down (2021), which involved a heist narrative set against the backdrop of city-wide lockdowns. However, the first four years of the 2020’s still produced a few classic subgenre films and featured typical themes of the subgenre including heist-based Historical Biopics, Historical Events and remakes.
Biopics involving famous criminals, thieves and bank robbers were the most prevalent theme of the early 2020’s. Silk Road (2021) was a biopic based on Russ Ulbrich and his creation of the Silk Road website, the life of war veteran and criminal Nico Walker was the basis for Cherry (2021), Bandit (2022) covered the story of Gilber Galvan Jr. who holds the record for the most consecutive bank robberies in Canada and Spanish anarchist Lucio Urtubia’s string of bank robberies and forgeries in France was detailed in A Man of Action (2022).
Historical infamous bank heists and robberies were featured in Heist of the Century (2020) which was based on the real-life robbery of the Banco Rio branch in Buenos Aires and Echo Boomers (2020) which used robberies that took place in the Chicagoland area as the source for its story of a group of young people who steal from the rich.
And Heist film remakes included Wrath of Man (2021) which was a remake of the French film Cash Truck (2004) and Ambulance (2022) which was a remake of the Danish film Ambulance (2005).
Our complete list of Caper and Heist Films features over 448+ films from 1956 – 2023. This collection features almost every film involving a caper, heist or robbery and films focused on thieves and burglars. If you don’t see a film in our collection, it might not have enough Heist Film elements to be included but is likely in our lists of Films About Con Artists, Films About Financial Fraud or Films About Fugitives which are all closely aligned with the Heist Film subgenre. Also, as we’re always updating our Heist Film collections and will be releasing additional articles of great Heist Films, subscribe to our newsletter for our latest updates as we post them.
Classic Heist Films from 2020 – 2023: Heist of the Century (2020), Wrath of Man (2021), Army of the Dead (2021), Army of Thieves (2021) and Bandit (2022).
Lesser-known Heist Films from 2020 – 2023 that didn’t make our list: Arkansas (2020), The Last Days of American Crime (2020), Force of Nature (2020), Cut Throat City (2020), The Owners (2020), Kajillionaire (2020), Pixie (2020), Locked Down (2021), The Misfits (2021), Silk Road (2021), Pipeline (2021), Naked Singularity (2021), The Score (2021), A Small Fortune (2021), Ambulance (2022), Turbo Cola (2022), Blowback (2022), Stealing Raden Saleh (2022), Seoul Vibe (2022), Robbing Mussolini (2022), Poker Face (2022), Three Day Millionaire (2022), A Man of Action (2022), Transfusion (2023), The Locksmith (2023) and Inside (2023).
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Here is our list of the Best Recent Heist Films:
#10
Echo Boomers
Plot: Five post grads figure the best way to get back at the unfair economy and live the life they’ve always wanted is to steal from the rich and give to themselves.
KBZ’s Take: This is a love it or hate it film, but we found it to be one of the better heist films of the last few years. We also like most films Michael Shannon is in and he’s great, as always, in Echo Boomers.
Fans of the subgenre should enjoy the film but just don’t expect an action-packed heist film. If you’re from or familiar with Chicago, you’ll likely enjoy this film a bit more than others.
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
Plot: A Spanish anarchist sets up a counterfeiting operation in Paris. After managing to recover a large sum of money by forging travelers checks, he finds himself in the crosshairs of the largest American bank.
KBZ’s Take: This is an interesting period heist film that’s based on the life of Lucio Urtubia and his evolution from bank robberies to forgery. It’s also an interesting look at France and the pre-digital banking system of the time and how much easier it was to pass off forgeries.
The film does portray Urtubia as a Robin Hood-type personality who steals from the rich to give to the poor, so it does have an underlying political message in the film. But politics aside, it still has some great heist sequences that fans of the subgenre should enjoy.
Where to Stream / Buy: Netflix
#8
Time to Hunt
Plot: Four young men want to leave their dystopian world behind and go to a distant paradise to execute a money robbery, a daring act that will have unexpected consequences.
KBZ’s Take: Time to Hunt is listed under the sci-fi genre and is set in a future dystopian South Korea. However, the Sci-Fi Dystopian elements are minimal, and this film is much more about an ill-advised heist and the ramifications afterwards.
The heist portion is exciting and well-done but it’s the pursuit of the robbers by a psychotic hitman that takes up much of the second and third acts. Though the film could have been shortened by 20-30 minutes, the film is still a master class in suspense as the four robbers can’t seem to elude their relentless and violent pursuer.
This is one of the better, lesser-known heist films from the last few years and one we strongly recommend for fans of the subgenre.
Where to Stream / Buy: Netflix
Plot: A group of criminals are brought together under mysterious circumstances and have to work together to uncover what’s really going on when their simple job goes completely sideways.
KBZ’s Take: Steven Soderbergh has a gift for Ensemble Cast Heist Films that can be traced back to the success of the Ocean’s Eleven franchise of films. No Sudden Move is another Soderbergh ensemble cast film but it’s much different than the lighter tone of his Ocean’s films.
This is a dark, Film Noir that has a very intricate plot that requires your full attention to follow. The film also has an all-star cast of Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, David Harbour, Ray Liotta, and Jon Hamm who play characters whose perspectives and motivations change as the plot develops.
We wouldn’t recommend this film for fans of action-based heist films as this film is the furthest away from those types of subgenre films you can get. But, if you’re a fan of the moody and dark noir heist films of the 1950’s, this is the film for you.
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#6
Red Notice
Plot: An Interpol-issued Red Notice is a global alert to hunt and capture the world’s most wanted. But when a daring heist brings together the FBI’s top profiler and two rival criminals, there’s no telling what will happen.
KBZ’s Take: Red Notice is your typical popcorn heist film. It doesn’t have a unique heist plot, it borrows heavily from other actions films and it’s much more about style over substance. But you know what? The film still works and is a fun, action-packed heist film led by Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot. You could consider this the exact opposite type of heist film to our previous entry, No Sudden Move (2021).
The film doesn’t reinvent the wheel within the subgenre but the interactions between Reynolds and Johnson are some of the funniest from the last few years and well worth checking out by fans of the subgenre.
Where to Stream / Buy: Netflix
#5
Cherry
Plot: Cherry drifts from college dropout to army medic in Iraq – anchored only by his true love, Emily. But after returning from the war with PTSD, his life spirals into drugs and crime as he struggles to find his place in the world.
KBZ’s Take: Apple TV+ is relatively new to the streaming game but it has been slowly building a roster of some great original films. Tetris (2023), Finch (2021) and The Greatest Beer Run Ever (2022) are a few of our personal favorites along with this film. Cherry is also not your typical heist film as it’s focused on the underlying PTSD and drug addiction of Cherry (Tom Holland) which leads to his life of crime.
This is one of the more depressing films of the subgenre but it’s also one of the best from the last few years. Holland’s performance in the film is amazing along with Ciara Bravo (as Cherry’s girlfriend Emily and fellow drug addict).
Where to Stream / Buy: Apple TV+
Plot: In 2006, a group of thieves performed what is considered one of the most famous and smart bank heists in the history of Argentina. How they robbed the Rio bank is as surprising as what happened afterwards. This is their story.
KBZ’s Take: Heist of the Century is a light-hearted comedy heist film in the vein of Ocean’s Eleven (2001). This film from Argentina also has three great segments that correlate to each act – the planning stage, the execution stage and the aftermath.
The fact that the film is based on the real-life robbery of the Banco Rio branch in Buenos Aires is all that more amazing as some of the heist elements seem hard to believe. But if you’re a fan of the subgenre, this is definitely one film you should not miss. It’s one of the best subgenre films from the last few years and will likely be considered a classic of the decade over time.
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#3
Bandit
Plot: After escaping a Michigan prison, a charming career criminal assumes a new identity in Canada and goes on to rob a record 59 banks and jewelry stores while being hunted by a rogue task force. Based on the story of The Flying Bandit.
KBZ’s Take: The best part of Historical Biopics based on criminals are some of the real-life situations that seem hard to believe. Bandit is based on bank robber Gilbert Galvan Jr. whose robberies were so simplistic in practice that you’ll be in disbelief as to how he was able to rob so many banks before getting caught.
Josh Duhamel also starred in a previous subgenre film we recommended called Lost in the Sun (2015). While he delivered an admirable performance in that film, his performance as Gilbert Galvan is one of the best of the subgenre and his career. He makes Galvan into a sympathetic character where you’re essentially rooting for a criminal to succeed. And his moral-based code for bank robberies stands in direct contrast to the felonious criminal code of Tommy (Mel Gibson). Gibson has made some subpar films over the last decade, but this is one of his better films as the criminal who presents opportunity and danger to Galvan’s growing greed.
We’re not sure yet if we would consider this film as a classic of the entire subgenre, but it’s one of the best from the last few years and likely will end up as a classic heist film from the decade.
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#2
Wrath of Man
Plot: A new security guard is more than he seems while defending a heist.
KBZ’s Take: Heat (1995) is generally regarded as the best heist film of all time. Over the years, many films have tried (and failed) to be recognized on the same level as Heat. That is until Wrath of Man was released.
This Guy Ritchie Heist film didn’t get the promotion and awareness it might normally have due to its release during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, like Heat, this film has a defining heist execution that’s on par with the best heist action scenes of all time. It’s also a great Revenge Thriller (that we can’t talk too much about as revenge is central to the plot).
This is one of the best subgenre films of the last few years and has already cemented its place as a classic film of the subgenre.
Additional Lists: Top Caper & Heist Films You Haven’t Seen (Part 1) #2, Top Films About Revenge You Haven’t Seen #8
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
Plot: A mysterious woman recruits bank teller Ludwig Dieter to lead a group of aspiring thieves on a top-secret heist during the early stages of the zombie apocalypse.
KBZ’s Take: This spot is for both Army of the Dead (2021) and Army of Thieves (2021) which were both the most popular subgenre films from the early part of this decade. While Army of the Dead is primarily a Zombie Film with a heist as the catalyst to get to the zombie action, Army of Thieves is primarily a heist film with only passing mentions of the impending zombie apocalypse.
Matthias Schweighöfer (Dieter) was the quirky safecracker who stole the show in Army of the Dead and Army of Thieves is a prequel spin-off featuring his character. And we have to say it’s a much better film overall as it takes the quirkiness of Dieter and applies that style of comedy to the entire film.
One of the primary reasons we also have this as #1 is that it also explains methods to cracking safes and other heist elements in detail – and it does this in a unique and interesting way. It’s a film that doesn’t take itself seriously while also featuring some thrilling action sequences layered with comedy.
While Army of the Dead might have been disappointing for Zombie Film subgenre fans, there’s no doubt Army of Thieves is a welcome addition to the subgenre and the best from the last few years.
Where to Stream / Buy: Netflix
