Lede

A slick LA heist movie that looks enormous, sounds enormous, and still somehow feels like it arrived in cinemas wearing streaming slippers.

Hermit Off Script

Crime 101 left me with a feel good feeling, and that is basically the whole point. Maybe it’s because the actors are around my age and the film has that quiet suggestion running underneath it that everything starts wrapping up in your 50s, like life is giving you the closing credits whether you’re ready or not. Also, the cast is stacked with people I actually like, so I went in already leaning generous. I was tired as well, and if this hadn’t been IMAX I would’ve probably skipped it entirely and kept my Monday intact. The IMAX part mattered. The music mattered even more. The score makes a big statement and it carries the action and the mood in a way that reminded me of Dune. Not because it’s the same, but because it triggered that same thought: without a genius-level soundtrack, those films lose a lot of their impact. Here, the music is doing that work, pushing scenes into your chest, telling you what to feel, and doing it well. And then there are the Highway 101 views. On IMAX, they look glorious. Proper cinema postcard stuff. That alone is worth the big screen if you’re in the mood for it. But I couldn’t shake this other feeling: I was watching a streaming movie on an IMAX screen. Not in a bad way. More like the line has blurred so much lately that a lot of streaming films are now good enough to compete with cinema releases, and this one has that exact polish and pacing. It feels designed to play just as well at home as it does in a giant auditorium. So yes, it works on IMAX and it works on a sofa, and that’s the compliment and the roast in one sentence. All in all, it’s a good film to watch big or small, but honestly, if it was only on a normal screen and I was paying a full ticket without an Unlimited subscription, I don’t think I’d have gone. This one was made for streaming, and IMAX just makes it feel like an event for people who needed a reason to leave the house.

Crime 101 (2026) | Official Trailer

One Last Score on the 101 | Movie synopsis

Crime 101 is a sleek Los Angeles crime thriller built around one rule: commit your heists along Highway 101 and never break pattern.

A disciplined jewel thief operates with military precision, targeting high value shipments and disappearing before the system can catch its breath. He is not chaotic. He is methodical. Every job follows a code, and that code has kept him invisible. But invisibility breeds ambition.

When a restless insider from the insurance world crosses his path, the scale of the game shifts. What begins as calculated theft evolves into something bigger, riskier, and emotionally unstable. The thief wants one final score – not for greed, but for escape. She wants out of a life that has quietly drained her. Both convince themselves this is strategy, not desperation.

On the other side stands a seasoned detective who recognises patterns the way others recognise faces. He sees the rhythm behind the robberies, the signature in the silence. For him, this is not just another case. It is a test of endurance – patience versus ego, discipline versus temptation.

Set against sun soaked stretches of the 101 and the glittering illusion of coastal wealth, Crime 101 blends high tension heists with midlife reckoning. It is not just about stealing diamonds. It is about timing. About what happens when professionals in their prime realise the clock is louder than the sirens.

Stylish, controlled, and driven by a powerful score, the film moves with confidence, building momentum toward a final confrontation where rules will either hold – or collapse.

Best of all, it plays like a premium streaming banger that accidentally got dressed up for the big screen, which is either an insult or the most modern compliment going.

Cast and credits

Director: Bart Layton
Writers: Bart Layton (based on Don Winslow’s novella)
Genre: Crime / drama / thriller
Main cast: Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry, Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Nolte
Composer: Blanck Mass
Production company/studio: Amazon MGM Studios (release), plus partners including Working Title Films (listed among production entities)
Runtime: commonly listed as 2 hr 19 min (with some listings at 135 minutes)
Release year and platform: 2026 theatrical release (including IMAX), with streaming expected later on Prime Video according to trade coverage of its Amazon MGM home.

What does not make sense

• A “feel good” glow coming from a crime film whose whole pitch is moral corrosion and expensive bad decisions.
• The film begs for IMAX scale, yet the vibe screams “Prime Video on a Friday night”.
• It leans into the myth of adult gravitas, then stuffs itself with enough plot and runtime to feel like a limited series pilot that forgot to stop.
• The 101 freeway is sold as icon and metaphor, and for stretches it is the most emotionally stable character on screen.

Sense check / The numbers

1. UK and US release landed on 13 February 2026, with IMAX listings pushing the same date. [Guardian] [IMAX]
2. Runtime is effectively “bring snacks and a small will to live”: 2 hr 19 min is widely listed, while some trackers show 135 minutes. So yes, even the length can’t commit. [Box Office Mojo] [The Numbers]
3. Widest release hit 3,161 theatres, which is blockbuster muscle for a thriller that often plays like prestige streaming. [Box Office Mojo]
4. Opening weekend US and Canada is listed at $15,136,000, and worldwide gross is sitting around $29,792,000 in early returns. [IMDb] [Box Office Mojo]
5. It is adapted from Don Winslow’s 2020 novella and written and directed by Bart Layton. [Guardian] [IMDb]

The sketch

Scene 1: “IMAX Confessional”
Panel: A tired man buying an IMAX ticket like it’s medicine.
Dialogue: “One giant screen, please. I’m too exhausted to feel feelings in standard definition.”
Dialogue: Cashier: “That’ll be your monthly subscription, plus your dignity.”

Scene 2: “Highway 101, Lead Actor”
Panel: The 101 freeway in full cinematic glow, while the characters argue in the foreground.
Dialogue: Freeway: “I’m doing 80 per cent of the charisma here.”
Dialogue: Detective: “Keep talking. The road’s got better motivation than my squad.”

Scene 3: “Sofa Cut”
Panel: The IMAX screen shrinks into a living-room telly mid-chase.
Dialogue: Viewer: “Why does this still work?”
Dialogue: Film: “Because I was always destined for Prime.”

What to watch, not the show

• Subscriptions turning “Should I go out?” into “May as well”.
• IMAX as a quality filter for mid-budget thrillers, not just event cinema.
• Streaming polish pushing theatrical films into an identity crisis.
• Star power as shorthand for “adult movie night”, even when the script is overpacked.
• Music doing narrative labour because attention spans are now a hostile environment.

The Hermit take

IMAX makes it feel like an event, even when it behaves like a stream.
If you’re paying per ticket, let the sofa win – but with Cineworld Unlimited, it’s worth seeing on the big screen.

Keep or toss

Keep / Toss
Keep the IMAX ride, the score, and the 101 glamour, especially if Cineworld Unlimited makes the cinema price feel like zero.
Toss the idea that this needed a cinema-sized runtime to justify its streaming-sized soul.

Sources

• IMDb title page: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32430579/
• IMDb full cast and crew: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32430579/fullcredits/
• The Guardian review (11 February 2026): https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/feb/11/crime-101-review-chris-hemsworth-barry-keoghan-mark-ruffalo
• IMAX listing: https://www.imax.com/movie/crime-101
• BFI IMAX showtimes page: https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/imax/Online/Article/crime-101-imax
• Box Office Mojo release page: https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl797671425/
• The Numbers financials: https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Crime-101-%282026%29
• Decider streaming status report (12 February 2026): https://decider.com/2026/02/12/watch-crime-101-movie-streaming-netflix-amazon-prime-video/
• Deadline on Amazon MGM – Sony international distribution deal (27 June 2025): https://deadline.com/2025/06/amazon-mgm-studios-sony-international-distribution-1236444141/