Army of Thieves (2021)
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A mundane bank teller is recruited into a high-stakes heist crew to crack legendary safes in a world facing a zombie outbreak.
The story
Sebastian Schlencht-Wöhnert, a bank teller in Potsdam, Germany, spends his time producing YouTube videos about safecracking. After a mysterious figure invites him to an underground competition, he wins and meets Gwendoline Starr, a skilled jewel thief. Gwendoline recruits Sebastian into a crew—including an expert hacker, a getaway driver, and a gunman—to break into three legendary safes created by locksmith Hans Wagner. The safes, currently owned by billionaire Bly Tanaka, are set to be decommissioned in less than a week, creating a ticking clock for the crew to complete their ambitious challenge.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Sebastian Schlencht-Wöhnert, a bank teller in Germany, is recruited by jewel thief Gwendoline Starr to join a crew tasked with cracking three legendary Wagner safes owned by billionaire Bly Tanaka. The crew, including hacker Korina, driver Rolph, and gunman Brad (alias Alexis), successfully hits the first safe in Paris, prioritizing reputation over profit. During the second heist in Prague, they are pursued by an obsessive Interpol agent, Delacroix. After a chaotic confrontation where Brad is shot and abandons Sebastian, Gwendoline and Korina temporarily leave the crew but later reunite with Sebastian to continue the challenge. They head to St. Moritz for the final safe, hijacking it during transfer. Korina eventually betrays the group to save her family. During a high-speed chase in a lorry, Sebastian cracks the final safe while Brad and Rolph pursue them. Gwendoline overpowers Brad and Rolph, leaving them for the police. In Hallstatt, Austria, Sebastian and Gwendoline confess their love; Gwendoline sacrifices herself to be arrested so Sebastian can escape. The film ends with Sebastian, now using the name Ludwig Dieter, accepting a job in California to crack Wagner's 'missing' safe.
- First release year
- 2021
- Runtime (minutes)
- 130
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Matthias Schweighöfer
- Writers
- Shay Hatten · screenplay; Zack Snyder · story; Shay Hatten · story
- Cast and characters
- Matthias Schweighöfer · Ludwig Dieter; Nathalie Emmanuel; Ruby O. Fee; Stuart Martin; Guz Khan; Jonathan Cohen
- Genres
- heist comedy; black comedy; crime comedy; crime thriller; comedy thriller
- Themes
- reputation vs. profit; sacrifice; loyalty
- Tone and mood
- romantic comedy; playful; action
- Premise and plot tags
- heist; prequel; zombie apocalypse; romantic comedy
- Franchise connections
- Army of the Dead
- Content notes
- zombies
- Reception
- The film received lukewarm reviews, with critics praising the performances and direction but criticizing the unoriginal plot. It was a major hit on Netflix, ranking first in over 90 countries during its debut week.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 69% · review count: 96; Metacritic · score: 49 · scale: 100 · review count: 22
- Production trivia
- The film was originally known as Army of the Dead: The Prequel.; The film is described as similar to The Italian Job in a world where zombies exist.; The film was ranked on Rotten Tomatoes' 100 Best Zombie Movies list.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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