‘How To Rob A Bank’ review: Nicholas Hoult is a Gen Z Robin Hood in David Leitch’s fun, forgettable heist movie | Reviews

Dir: David Leitch. US. 2026. 122mins

A high-octane, blunt-edged Robin Hood fable for the digital generation, How To Rob A Bank sees Nicholas Hoult impress as the disillusioned head of a gang of bank robbers who broadcast their exploits on YouTube to millions of followers. But while the filmmaking is kinetic and diverting, director David Leitch wraps the picture’s anti-capitalist messaging in so much bombastic action that it loses much of its dramatic impact.

An infectious, if almost entirely superficial, punky vibe

Rolling out in multiple territories from November 11 (it hits the US and UK on November 13 via Amazon MGM Studios and Sony respectively), the feature should appeal to a younger crowd who will respond to the film’s glossily-packaged, easily-digestible ‘fight the power’ aesthetic. That Hoult is currently part of the Bond casting conversation may also pique interest, as will a solid cast including Zoe Kravitz, Pete Davidson, John C Reilly and Ana Sawai. It is not, however, likely powerful enough to hold off The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping, which opens in the US and UK a week later.

Hoult is Ryan, a 30-something former US soldier who, along with his wife Emi (Sawai), is grieving the death of his teenage son from cancer, and furious about the prohibitive cost of medical care. Determined to rail against what they see as a rigged and broken system, the couple teams up with fellow Afghanistan veteran Vince (Davidson) and tech whizz Hugo (Rhenzy Feliz) – both of whom have their own personal reasons for wanting to disrupt the financial status quo.

Leitch is no stranger to the anarchic actioner, having previously helmed the likes of The Fall Guy (2024), Bullet Train (2022) and Fast And Furious Presents: Hobbs And Shaw (2019), and he and his cast bring a punchy energy from the off. An opening sequence sets up both the robbers’ modus operandi, with cinematographer Jonathan Sela (reteaming with Leitch after several movies together) utilising multiple tiny cameras – stagnant, hand-held, attached to vehicles – as they execute a daring bank robbery in Pittsburgh, all captured for their YouTube channel ‘How To Rob A Bank’. Breakneck editing from Elisabet Ronaldsdottir (also a Leitch regular) effectively splices together the real-time robbery and the resulting video.

As the group pull off audacious heists along the East Coast, by-the-book FBI Agent West (Reilly) is the man tasked with bringing the gang to justice. Just five years away from retirement, West finds his analogue ways no match for gang’s cutting-edge tactics and so teams up with Reagan (Kravitz), who has built computer software that allows the user to track down anyone by cross-referencing images from social media. The odd couple energetic between Reilly and Kravitz is one of the surprising highlights of a film that doesn’t take a great amount of care to establish character or motivation.

Soon it becomes clear that Riley’s gang – who all dress in furry animal costumes to maintain their anonymity – are more concerned with building followers than lining their coffers; they give most of their haul away to various charities. And their videos are certainly entertaining enough to go viral, their anti-establishment rants about the income gap, lack of opportunity and the unchecked power of greedy bankers (like Christan Slater’s smarmy asset manager Walton) striking a chord with increasingly disenfranchised teenage Americans.

“You know what’s more powerful than a gun – an audience,” asserts Riley, convinced he is harnessing the power of social media to kickstart a grass-roots movement. And it seems he might be right; one crowd sequence features a protestor wielding a placard proclaiming ‘The Revolution Will Be Streamed’. But as the film builds towards its inevitable finale, and we finally begin to learn what motivates these eat-the-rich vigilantes, there’s the sense that Riley is, like the fat cats he condemns, manipulating his audience for his own ends. Similarly, with Mark Bianculli’s screenplay playing both sides – West is shown as a sympathetic character, a hard-working man determined to do what he believes is right – the film doesn’t have the courage of its convictions.

What it does have, however, is an infectious, if almost entirely superficial, punky vibe, born out in that breakneck pace and a rambunctious score from Dominic Lewis that often recalls the jazzy urban tones of other (better) heist movies like The Thomas Crown Affair (either version) or the Oceans franchise. Throughout, song choices are entirely on the nose – Lily Allen’s ’Fuck You’, Radiohead’s ’Karma Police’, Tom Morello’s ’Hold The Line’ – but serve as an effectively propulsive soundtrack to this fun, forgettable paean to taking back control.