The Outfit

Chicago in 1956: the quiet London tailor Leonard (Mark Rylance) is a master of his trade. And he's also really good at something else: looking the other way and keeping quiet. That's why the gangster family Boyle uses his store as a mailbox, where mysterious packages are delivered again and again. Leonard never asks about the contents. When the gangsters Richie (Dylan O'Brien) and Francis (Johnny Flynn) show up at his place one evening, Leonard thinks nothing of it. But instead of picking up the dropped off packages as usual, the two young men desperately need Leonard's help. As a result, not only the tailor is drawn deep into the criminal machinations of the gangster clan. His assistant Mable (Zoey Deutch) is also suddenly an unwilling accomplice. But who is really pulling the strings in the background here?

"The Outfit" is a cleverly constructed chamber play that keeps coming up with new twists, until the finale is once again unpacked a very big surprise. The action is limited to two rooms in Leonard's tailor shop, which could have easily been at the expense of suspense. Admittedly, in some scenes the film actually feels more like a play than a major motion picture. But the bottom line is that it's the very special atmosphere created by the spatial limitations that give the production its special spice.

Director Graham Moore gives his ensemble enough space in the tightest of spaces to really let themselves unfold. This creates some really strong moments that make the thriller stand out from the crowd of similar works. Especially Mark Rylance and Johnny Flynn deliver really great performances. This also underscores the strengths of the script, which can not convince in all scenes, but ultimately with a cleverly built story over some weaknesses in the dialogues over.

"The Outfit" has some small weaknesses and could here and there also be tightened a little bit. But overall the film is a really good, entertaining and in its unexciting way also exciting thriller that offers first-class genre cinema in terms of acting, atmosphere and dramaturgy. For this, there can be only one rating: Absolutely worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp