Josh O’Connor is really having a moment. The 35-year-old English actor who came to our attention in 2017’s God’s Own Country feels like he’s everywhere right now. Following last year’s Lee, La Chimera and Challengers, he’s soon to be seen in the third instalment of the phenomenally popular Knives Out series, Wake Up Dead Man, before canoodling with fellow hot property Paul Mescal in The History Of Sound. Nominated for the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes, The Mastermind, from the great American director Kelly Reichardt, marks another fine addition to O’Connor’s increasingly classy CV.

Described by its director as an interrogation of the ‘folly of man’, the film is a subversive spin on the classic heist picture. Set in leafy Massachusetts in the early 1970s and embellished with the era’s cinematic style, its faded retro aesthetic lends it the look of an unearthed gem (Wim Wenders’ The American Friend was a particular visual influence). Once again Reichardt works wonderfully with cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt (who has shot all her films since 2010’s Meek’s Cutoff), as the pair cast a discreetly critical eye over proceedings.

O’Connor plays James Blaine Mooney, aka JB, a mild-mannered, unemployed carpenter from an affluent background who, right under the nose of his family, plots an art heist, apparently out of boredom. James’s snooty parents are played by Bill Camp and Hope Davis, with real-life siblings Sterling and Jasper Thompson as his young sons, and rocker and Licorice Pizza alumnus Alana Haim playing JB’s oblivious wife Terri, who seems to exist in a different dimension entirely as her husband goes about his plans.

JB assembles a crew that includes the reluctant Guy (Eli Gelb) and wild card Ronnie (Javion Allen), with the target a series of abstract paintings by the celebrated American artist Arthur Dove (a favourite of Reichardt’s). Despite his casual cocksureness, our hero evidently has no idea what he’s doing, and a series of disasters ensues, from the unexpected presence of a gun during the robbery, to the intervention of a cannier criminal gang (one of whom tells JB, ‘Honestly, I don’t think you’ve thought things through enough. No offence’).

The second half of the movie follows JB on the run. Ripped from the comforts of his family, which had included continued access to mummy’s chequebook, he holes up with gobsmacked friends Fred and Maude (welcome appearances from John Magaro and Gaby Hoffmann), who are rudely awakened from their almost comically quiet life in the country. Maude is understandably wary but Fred is more than a little impressed, while later an increasingly isolated JB is forced to resort to more grubby crimes.

Attired like a not-especially successful academic, the always excellent O’Connor brings affability to this apparently unassuming protagonist, who is far from your usual cinematic crook, with Rob Mazurek’s sublime jazz score evoking far cooler customers. And O’Connor is superbly supported by the esteemed ensemble, who were instructed to watch the 1974 Jeff Kreines documentary The Plaint Of Steve Kreines As Recorded By His Younger Brother Jeff to get into the mindset of the time.

Although she’s known for her quietly insightful dramas, which include Old Joy, Wendy And Lucy and Certain Women, it’s not uncommon for Reichardt to play with genre, refashioning traditions to suit her needs in the western Meek’s Cutoff and the enviro-thriller Night Moves. Inspired by the neo-noirs of Le Samouraï director Jean-Pierre Melville, especially Le Cercle Rouge and Un Flic, as well as a real-life heist in the Massachusetts area, Reichardt toys enjoyably with expectations throughout. The opening scene shows JB casing the museum before it’s revealed he is with his family, the deceptively slick manner in which he executes his initial theft gives way to serial incompetence, while JB’s childcare woes have an irresistibly modern flavour.

If the content can be classified as farce, the film is played and styled straight and has an almost fable-esque feel. Instead of building to the heist itself, The Mastermind contemplates the consequences of JB’s actions and documents his inevitable downfall. It’s a fun, fascinating and very distinct spin on the material, while the ironic, 70s-sounding title is the cherry on the cake.

The Mastermind is in cinemas from Friday 24 October.