Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Spoiler-free premise
A career criminal assembles a specialized crew for a meticulously planned racetrack robbery.
Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free+
Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a marksman, corrupt policeman, bartender, and racetrack employee for a precisely timed robbery during a horse race. Personal debts and one participant's attempt to impress his wife threaten the plan before it begins.
Why it belongs
The Killing makes a racetrack heist gripping through fractured chronology, repeated actions, hard surfaces, and characters unable to control chance.
Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case+
The same minutes return from different viewpoints, so clocks, doors, money bags, and routine movements generate structural narrative pressure—stark photography and terse narration make the plan appear orderly even as private weakness accumulates outside it.
Major award wins
No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.
Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Good for
Date NightFilm Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.
Institutional reference ranks
Sight & Sound—IMDb Top 250—AFI 100—
Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score
Great Cinema Master List scores
Greatness8.8
Engagement9.2
Ease9.1
English · Not Rated Narrative Feature Mood: Exhilarating & Gripping
