July 16, 2026
YouTube/Warner Bros.
'Ocean's 8' (pictured above) recently arrived on Max, while the rest of the franchise is streaming on Peacock.
The summer movie calendar is usually clogged with superheroes, monsters and Minions. But traditionally, multiplexes have welcomed another genre during the hottest months: heist movies.
Is it the chilly-looking bank vaults or fantasy of funding a luxury vacation? Whatever the reason, capers from "Baby Driver" to "The Thomas Crown Affair" (both versions) have hit screens in the summer.
A new entry with an unambiguous title — "How to Rob a Bank" — was set to close out the season Labor Day weekend. But given its recent rescheduling to the fall, here are a few films hinging on heists and cons to take its place. They all recently hit major streaming platforms:
Arguably one of the top things that comes to mind when people think of Vegas (the others are neon and sadness), the "Ocean's" trilogy (11, 12 and 13) is now streaming on Peacock. In each outing, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) leads his band of crime buddies on a heist to steal cash, jewels and other prizes, usually from a casino. And like any good gambler, the franchise keeps its cards close to the chest. Audiences see bits of each scheme before it unfolds, but only get the final pieces of the plan after it's finished. The staging makes the films feel like a magic trick or Sherlock Holmes story, with the added bonus of watching a bunch of cool, well-dressed movie stars banter for two hours.
The "Ocean's" universe got its first spinoff with an all-female grift led by Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), Danny's sister. Fresh out of prison, she enlists a squad of women to steal a $150 million necklace off the neck of a guest at the Met Gala. The con is also a means for Debbie to exact revenge on her backstabbing ex (Richard Armitage), who fed her to the cops.
The humor is a bit more muted in this installment, which recently came to Max, but it contains a worthy heist that naturally lends itself to great costumes. It also features a fun turn from Anne Hathaway as the crew's self-absorbed target and Met Gala host Daphne Kluger.
Which is the more impressive con: ripping off the Met Gala or staging your own abduction and framing your husband for murder? Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) makes a pretty impressive case for the latter in the big-screen adaptation of Gillian Flynn's bestselling novel.
As anyone who's memorized the "cool girl" monologue can attest, "Gone Girl" is about feminine rage. But Amy's fury at her husband Nick (Ben Affleck) plays out in a twisty scheme more tightly controlled than a Rube Goldberg machine. It's a shadowy neo-noir and a battle of wits smashed together and somehow also starring Tyler Perry. Check it out on Netflix.
This 1998 German thriller isn't a heist movie in the traditional sense. But Lola (Franka Potente) does run through a bank multiple times in her quest to save her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), and she may or may not knock over the place.
"Run Lola Run" plays out like a frantic choose-your-own-adventure story, wherein the heroine speeds through the same scenario three times, each time landing in a different place. Will any of them end with her and Manni in one piece? Stream it on Hulu to find out.
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