Review: How to Rob a Bank isn’t the Question

(L to R) Nicholas Hoult stars as Ryan, Pete Davidson as Vince and Rhenzy Feliz as Hugo in HOW TO ROB A BANK, from Amazon MGM Studios.
Photo credit: Megan Schoenbachler
© 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Bank-robbing has always been portrayed as dangerously sexy at the movies, but there’s something quite analogue about a bank heist in 2026. How To Rob a Bank is designed to meld the old-school hold-up with a life lived on the socials. Director David Leitch (The Fall Guy, Bullet Train) wants to tell a story about a neon neo-Robin Hood versus capitalism. And he nearly pulls it off.

Nicholas Hoult plays the Wolf, who leads a gang of hot, furry-mask wearing robbers causing chaos all over Pittsburgh. With Vince (Pete Davidson), Emi (Anna Sawai) and Hugo (Rhenzy Feliz), the Wolf actively courts the media, filming every stage of their robberies and loading their exploits as how-to guides on all the platforms. The gang has managed to avoid capture by aging FBI agent John West (John C Reilly) for a long time. He’s had it with these hipsters and decides to take a different approach by hiring Reagan (Zoe Kravitz). Under house arrest for creating a tracker program that can pinpoint locations by matching photos and videos, if Reagan can use her skills to locate the furries, her record disappears. What follows is a cat-and-mouse game as West uncovers the Wolf’s ultimate goal.

How To Rob a Bank is a pacey and energising caper that nicely blends an unfolding narrative with quirky digital inserts. It has neither the style of Out of Sight nor the grit of Natural Born Killers but it flows with ease as the personal stories of each of the robbers unfold. Hoult leads well, Davidson plays his role with a sincerity that suits him and it’s nice to see Sawai let loose. But it’s Feliz, who recently had a small role in an adjacent, but much better movie, The Mastermind who is the one to keep an eye on. Reilly and Kravitz also have a great rapport, even though Kravitz’s story is superfluous to the rest of the plot. This smells of laid groundwork for a sequel.

The problem with How To Rob a Bank is that the film tries to gain kudos by suggesting it knows how to deconstruct capitalism. This conundrum hasn’t been resolved by economists for decades, so a trite and unrealistic film may do more harm than good. In fact, the ragebait that Leitch tries to generate makes it hard to root too much for any of the characters. The film is simultaneously pro-crime and pro-justice, while gesturing towards the plight of Luigi Mangione. A little frustrating and in although meant well, perhaps made in poor taste.

How to Rob a Bank knows how to make a fun, throwaway movie, just not how to pick a side.

How To Rob A Bank is in cinemas on 13th November 2026.