5 Forgotten Heist Movies That Still Hold Up Today

I am now and have always been a popcorn movie junkie. But while I live for sci-fi, monster flicks, and slashers, I have always had a very special place in my heart for heist movies. When I'm in the midst of watching a great heist film, I always have that thought dancing in my brain along the lines of, "Is this the greatest thing ever?" I distinctly remember watching the excellent Taylor Sheridan-penned "Hell or High Water" for the first time and just thinking "Hell yeah" for pretty much the entirety of its runtime.

It's probably not a coincidence that some of the most entertaining, re-watchable movies ever made happen to be heist films. Heck, even Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" opens with a kickass heist. The best heist movies of all time are oft-cited and well documented, ranging from Michael Mann's "Heat" to Ben Affleck's "The Town" and everything in between. But rest assured, the genre has more than a few hidden gems that have managed to sort of slide through the cracks over the years for a variety of reasons.

Be it bad timing, not-so-great reviews at the time of their release, or any combination of factors, the movies we're looking at today have been largely left out of the conversation when we talk about great heist films. So, we're going to look at some forgotten heist movies that are well-worth seeking out. From sturdy, mid-budget thrillers to inventive low-budget dramas, there's a lot to love here, so let's get into it.

For whatever reason, it feels like heist movies are held to an almost impossibly high standard. If it's not "Heat" or "Ocean's Eleven," it can often be shrugged off as lesser-than. But there's something to be said of a well-executed, run-of-the-mill thriller centered around a heist. That's precisely what we got in 2019 with "21 Bridges." Anchored by a solid performance from the late, great Chadwick Boseman, this movie undoubtedly feels more special now than it did back when it hit theaters.

Directed by Brian Kirk, the movie centers on an embattled NYPD detective who uncovers a massive conspiracy and joins a citywide manhunt for two young cop killers. As the night unfolds, he quickly becomes unsure of who to pursue and who's in pursuit of him. Authorities take extreme measures by closing all of Manhattan's 21 bridges to prevent the suspects from escaping. Hence, the name.

/Film's Chris Evangelista called "21 Bridges" a "bland, predictable thriller" in his review at the time. On the one hand, it is a tad predictable, though I wouldn't call it bland. At the same time though, in the pre-pandemic days, it was easy to take a sturdy, studio-produced, mid-budget thriller like this for granted. They were a dime a dozen. Not so much now, though. In that way, it certainly feels like a relic of its time worth longing for.

Beyond that, Boseman died at the age of 43 in 2020. As promising as his career was at the time, his filmography is now tragically scarce. That makes something like this movie also feel a little more precious in retrospect. What so many of us wouldn't give for another simple thriller that benefits greatly from Boseman's gravitas. His performance alone makes this one worth watching in the here and now.

While reinvention isn't anything new for heist movies at large, there are still certain expectations that come with this particular genre. Before he called the shots on his slick, big-budget 2026 heist movie "Crime 101," filmmaker Bart Layton directed an inventive and under-seen crime thriller in the form of "American Animals." It's a film that manages to both deliver what most folks are looking for from this genre while also serving up a fair amount of subversion and creativity along the way.

Based on a true story, "American Animals" centers on four friends who lead an ordinary existence in Kentucky. After a visit to Transylvania University, they hatch a plan to steal the rarest and most valuable books from the school's library. But as we watch one of the most audacious art heists in U.S. history unfold, the young men at its center question whether or not their plan is misguided.

The film's cast is led by Evan Peters ("American Horror Story") and Barry Keoghan ("Saltburn"), with their sturdy performances anchoring the movie's compelling, surprisingly dark tale as it unfolds. But perhaps more than anything, it's the way Layton brilliantly chooses to tell that story that makes this film wholly unique within its genre. The ultimate heist movie for the true-crime obsessed, it's sleek, bleakly harrowing, and unlike anything else you've likely seen.

"American Animals" really slid through the cracks when it was released theatrically in 2018. But it deserved better then, and it deserves to be far more well known now. So far as hidden gems go, this is one crime flick that's well worth your time.

Sidney Lumet is a cinematic legend. He helmed classics such as "12 Angry Men" and "Serpico," among many others. So many directors fade as they get older. Lumet, however, had one last gift for the road in the form of "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead." Released in 2007, it's a dour, character-driven, moody heist flick with an A-list cast that is the real deal. Lumet died in 2011 at the age of 86, but in his '80s, he gave us one final banger.

The movie centers on Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a debt-ridden broker who needs some quick cash. As such, he ropes his drunkard younger brother, Hank (Ethan Hawke), into a would-be bloodless scheme to rob their parents' jewelry store. The scheme goes awry, though, so Andy and Hank's father Charles (Albert Finney) takes justice into his own hands, unaware that the criminals he is hunting are his own sons.

"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" isn't one of those heist movies where you're rooting for the criminals. It's complicated and messy. It's also one of Hawke's greatest movies and features one of the late, great Hoffman's best performances. Legends like Finney and Marisa Tomei likewise give it their all, and the result is tense, intricate, and, not unlike a trainwreck, difficult to look away from, even if one might want to at certain times.

The opposite of a slick, cool heist movie with a band of dudes one wants to hang out with, this is a compelling look at seemingly realistic criminal ineptitude.

It can be exceedingly hard for smaller movies to break through in the larger cultural conversation, even if they're embraced by the critical community. Such was the case with 2022's "Breaking." Directed by Abi Damaris Corbin and based on the article "They Didn't Have to Kill Him" by Aaron Gell, this is a gut-wrenching tale of crime on a small scale. It's also a real-world look at why certain criminals do the things they do. Far from a sexy get-rich heist, this is about a desperate attempt to survive in an unfair world.

Based on a true story, "Breaking" centers on Brian Brown-Easley (John Boyega), a U.S. Marine veteran who is denied support from Veterans Affairs. So, being financially desperate and out of options, he takes a bank and several of its employees hostage, setting the stage for a tense confrontation with the police in an attempt to get the money he needs.

Boyega, who's known best for playing Finn in the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, delivers arguably a career-best performance here. In addition, "Breaking" was one of the last movies that the late Michael K. Williams was in, and he brings his usual excellence to the proceedings. And while I certainly don't want to get into spoilers for those who haven't seen it yet, "Breaking" gave us one of the best movie moments of 2022, delivering an absolute gut-punch for the ages.

If "Ocean's Eleven" is sort of the peak of what a heist fantasy is, "Breaking" is on the polar opposite end of the spectrum cinematically and is rooted firmly in a harsh reality. It's a deeply compelling movie that is truly about something, rather than just being hollow entertainment. I have nothing against hollow entertainment, but this is much more than that.

"Widows" had absolutely everything — and I mean everything — going for it. An absolutely stellar cast from top-to-bottom led by Oscar-winner Viola Davis ("Fences") with an Oscar-winning director, Steve McQueen ("12 Years a Slave"), at the helm of a slick heist movie with an outstanding premise. It was a very commercial motion picture that, in a better world, should have been showered with hundreds of millions of box office dollars and Academy Awards.

The movie takes place after a police shootout leaves four thieves dead during an explosive armed robbery attempt in Chicago. As a result, their widows are saddled with the debt left behind by their spouses' criminal activities. So, in an attempt to forge a future for themselves, Veronica (Davis) joins forces with the other three women to pull off a heist that her husband (Liam Neeson) was planning.

"Windows" is an exciting and surprising thriller from top to bottom. It not only has a unique premise in and amongst the genre, but it lives up to it. It's a masterfully made, substantive movie, but one that is entertaining from top-to-bottom. Daniel Kaluuya ("Get Out") also deserves a shout out for playing one of the most despicable bad guys in recent memory. The incredible cast, which even includes the likes of Jon Bernthal and Robert Duvall, is far too stacked to name-check everyone who's in this thing, but they all bring their A-game. In short? It rocks.

Yet, the movie merely did so-so business and kind of just came and went. It was a tragedy then and remains so now, because "Widows" is one of the very best crime films of any kind made in the last 20 years. Full stop.