--- title: "No Sudden Move" year: 2021 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/no-sudden-move" fi1m_id: "no-sudden-move" imdb_id: "tt11525644" tmdb_id: 649409 wikidata_id: "Q99796333" fi1m_score: 76 critics_score: 75 critics_reviews: 15 published: "2026-09-09" updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:52.908192+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # No Sudden Move (2021) Directed by Steven Soderbergh · 1h 55m · MPA R · Crime, Thriller ## Identity No Sudden Move - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/no-sudden-move - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** no-sudden-move - **IMDb ID:** tt11525644 - **TMDB ID:** 649409 - **Wikidata ID:** Q99796333 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11525644/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/649409, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q99796333 **Fi1m score: 76** · Critics 75 from 15 reviews *In a sentence:* Two crooks, one safe, and a lens so wide the doorframes lean in to eavesdrop > Soderbergh’s Detroit crime story is the real thing for an hour: two hired men, a family at gunpoint, and a safe with the wrong papers in it. Then it starts explaining what the papers mean, and the explanation is less interesting than the men. ## Synopsis Detroit, 1954. Curt Goynes (Don Cheadle) is not long out of prison and needs money. Ronald Russo (Benicio del Toro) is a hired man with a bad habit involving another man’s wife. A middleman, Doug Jones (Brendan Fraser), puts them with a third gunman, Charley Barnes (Kieran Culkin), for a job that is meant to take three hours: sit with the family of a car-company accountant, Matt Wertz (David Harbour), while he collects a document from his boss’s safe. The document is not where it should be. Curt and Ronald find they have been set up and go looking for whoever did it, with a detective (Jon Hamm), a gangster (Ray Liotta) and a numbers man (Bill Duke) in the mix. ## Review Steven Soderbergh has made a good many films about people who steal for a living, and *No Sudden Move* is one of the sour ones. It is Detroit in 1954. Curt Goynes (Don Cheadle) and Ronald Russo (Benicio del Toro) are hired for what they are told is a three-hour job: sit in an accountant’s kitchen with his family while he fetches a document from his boss’s safe. Ed Solomon’s screenplay spends the rest of its 115 minutes working out who lied to whom, and for most of that time it is tight, unhurried crime work. It goes wrong when it stops to tell us what the document means, and it tells us more than once. Soderbergh shoots and cuts his own films, and here he has picked lenses so wide that the edges of every room bend. Doorframes curve inwards, and a man across a table looks as if he is leaning at you. We liked it. The Wertz house feels like a place seen through a spyhole, and Detroit looks slightly wrong, a city coming apart at the sides. Hannah Beachler’s interiors are dark wood, patterned paper and low lamps, and each household has its own colour, so a cut from one to another tells you whose house you are in before anyone speaks. It is sold as a caper, and for the first half hour it frightened us more than we had bargained for. Three men with guns sit in a kitchen with Mary Wertz (Amy Seimetz) and her children while toast is made, and Soderbergh plays it in flat morning light, school bags by the door, a boy (Noah Jupe) working out how brave he is expected to be. Nobody shouts and there is no music. We noticed we were sitting forward. Charley Barnes (Kieran Culkin) is the one to watch, because he has not decided how the morning is going to go. Cheadle plays Curt as a man who has counted the exits before he sits down. He hardly moves his face, and Marci Rodgers dresses him in one good coat and a hat he keeps on indoors. Del Toro’s Ronald is loose, talkative, pleased with himself, and sleeping with the wife (Julia Fox) of a gangster (Ray Liotta) who is not going to take it well. The two of them work out, mostly in cars, how far to trust each other, and that is the part of the film we would keep if we could only keep one. David Harbour sweats through his shirts as the accountant. Brendan Fraser, as the middleman Doug Jones, is heavy, soft-spoken and the most dangerous man in the first act. Bill Duke, as Aldrick Watkins, says almost nothing, and we believed all of it. The trouble is the paper. The document concerns something the car companies would rather nobody knew, and we will leave it there. The second half keeps stopping so that men in offices can explain the stakes to each other, and each time it does the film gets smaller. Solomon has too many parties on the board: Capelli’s people, Watkins’s people, the car men, a detective (Jon Hamm), the Wertz marriage, Ronald’s affair. Each gets its scene, and Soderbergh the editor cannot make eight factions feel like a film about two men. By the third account of who owned what, we had stopped caring about the paper and were a little cross with ourselves for it. David Holmes’s jazz score idles under all this and never pushes. The film knows what city it is in. Curt’s neighbourhood is being cleared for a motorway, the film says so early and plainly, and it is part of why he wants out. Near the end somebody says it out loud, and the film is weaker for having said it. *Ocean’s Eleven* was about thieves who liked each other. Here nobody likes anybody. It is not as good as [*Out of Sight*](https://film.one/film/out-of-sight), which had a romance to hang its plot on; here there are only two men in a car deciding whether to shoot each other, and that is enough for about an hour. Watch it with the lights down and do not try to draw the diagram. The 15 certificate is for gunfire and language, and it is fair. *Fi1m score 76, published 9 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics like it, and the spread is fairly narrow: a large majority positive, a couple mixed, one outright dissent. The praise clusters on the ensemble first, with Don Cheadle and Benicio Del Toro named again and again, and then on Soderbergh’s direction, his compositions and editing and the recreation of 1954 Detroit. Several reviews enjoy the way a heist plot widens into a critique of corporate conspiracy and urban displacement. The reservations cluster on the same widening. The Wrap thinks the film takes on more history than it can carry and ends on tacked-on gravitas, and Paste finds it subdued, emotionally distant and overloaded. Others note the convoluted plotting keeps viewers at a remove without holding it against the film much. The lone negative comes from The New Yorker, which sees a pleasurable but insubstantial nostalgia trip that dresses up genre conventions rather than rethinking them, with serious themes used only as plot points. ## Straight answers **Is No Sudden Move worth watching?** *No Sudden Move* is worth watching for anyone who likes a slow, sour crime story, and we scored it 76. The first hour, with two hired men holding a family in a kitchen and then working out who set them up, is tight and unnerving. The second half explains its plot too often, and the film gets smaller each time it does. **How long is No Sudden Move, and what is it rated?** *No Sudden Move* runs 1h 55m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a crime and thriller film. **Where can I watch No Sudden Move in the US?** *No Sudden Move* is streaming on HBO Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and The Roku Channel in the US, and it is also available to rent from Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is No Sudden Move, and is it suitable for children?** *No Sudden Move* carries a 15 certificate in the UK for gunfire and language, and we think that is fair; it is not for children. The most frightening stretch is the opening, in which three armed men sit with a mother and her children while breakfast is made, played without music or shouting. Teenagers who can take that will manage the rest. ### Reviews we read (23) - **The AV Club**, Mike D'Angelo (B+): Desperation yields darkly comic dividends in this twisty period caper, kept humming by a superb ensemble's offbeat moments even as the convoluted plot threatens to bog down. Soderbergh returns to his crime-movie wheelhouse with memorable character work and tension that is often expertly built and defused. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/desperation-pays-darkly-comic-dividends-in-steven-soder-1847189346) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (80/100, inferred): Soderbergh plays to his strengths with intricate plotting, sardonic humor, and a crackerjack ensemble in this nimble neo-noir about crooks entangled in a document theft and corporate skullduggery in 1954 Detroit. The film is zippy and entertaining with sumptuous visuals and a buoyant storyteller at the helm, even if the script feels slightly less than the sum of its parts. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/steven-soderberghs-no-sudden-move-1234970192/) - **The Telegraph** (4/5): The review calls it a suave, moody crime drama that favours a sense of fatigue and detail over flashy noir swagger. Soderbergh is praised for his flair with actors and for incorporating real historical footnotes about corporate conspiracy and urban displacement without moralising. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/no-sudden-move-review-suave-crime-thriller-steven-soderbergh/) - **IndieWire**, Eric Kohn (75/100, inferred): Soderbergh delivers a lighthearted caper that goes down easy, with Don Cheadle and Benicio Del Toro having a blast amid the crime-gone-wrong antics. Despite a puzzling historical backdrop, the star-studded story remains amiable and engaging. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/no-sudden-move-review-don-cheadle-benicio-del-toro-1234645306/) - **Sight and Sound** (75/100, inferred): The critic calls it a sharp, gritty crime thriller with an all-star cast in a claustrophobic 1950s Detroit heist setup. They single out the charismatic performances, inventive compositions and editing, and the gradual shift to a wider systemic critique of American capitalism. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/no-sudden-move-sharp-gritty-crime-thriller-from-steven-soderbergh) - **Slant Magazine**, Chuck Bowen (70/100, inferred): No Sudden Move is a cooler-than-cool pastiche of 1950s noir and modern social self-consciousness, with high style, visual texture, and Soderbergh's signature grasp of professionalism and rigged systems. The hipness and intricate plotting can keep viewers at a remove, though standout performances and subtle details provide piercing moments. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review-no-sudden-move-is-a-cooler-than-cool-pastiche-of-old-and-new/) - **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (40/100, inferred): Soderbergh’s film is a retread and effortful reanimation of genre conventions with stylistic pleasures that adorn the action without reimagining it. It is a cinematic nostalgia trip that is far from unpleasurable but even further from substantial, with serious themes leveraged only as plot points. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/no-sudden-move-reviewed-steven-soderberghs-new-crime-drama-is-a-brisk-nostalgia-trip) - **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan: The film is an oozy, surreal all-star heist thriller set in 1950s Detroit that delivers twists and strong performances despite its limited release. The critic highlights the cast (particularly David Harbour and Jon Hamm) and Soderbergh's distinctive camera work as reasons it succeeds. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/no-sudden-move-review-movie-steven-soderbergh-don-cheadle-b959138.html) - **Financial Times**, Danny Leigh (★★★★☆): The review describes a crackling, smart noir filled with nifty surprises and strong performances, especially Don Cheadle. It notes the film’s ambition in pivoting from heist to broader themes but finds it slightly self-conscious, though still recommended as a grown-up treat. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/88350bad-4db5-431a-b25c-cd3f3ea82cac) - **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang: All due respect to ‘F9,’ but ‘No Sudden Move’ is the car movie of the summer in this smart, insouciantly twisty thriller set in 1954 Detroit. The seductive glide of Soderbergh’s filmmaking and the noirish cynicism suggest a grim tonal reversal of his earlier ensemble thrillers. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-06-30/no-sudden-move-review-soderbergh-don-cheadle-benicio-del-toro) - **The Guardian**: The critic praises Soderbergh for using a crowd-pleasing heist format to smuggle in subversive commentary on race, industry and politics in 1950s Detroit. The film is commended for its taut plotting, strong ensemble and nimble writing that balances genre thrills with deeper social critique. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jul/02/no-sudden-move-review-steven-soderbergh-hbo-max) - **The Independent**, Clarisse Loughrey: Soderbergh returns to the heist genre with an A-list cast in a well-crafted, reassuringly thrilling film that is a minor but solid entry in his filmography. The critic praises the professional execution of the caper and standout performances, especially from Don Cheadle and Brendan Fraser. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/no-sudden-move-b1934004.html) - **The New York Times**, A.O. Scott: The film is a Detroit-set period thriller with a lot on its mind, starring Don Cheadle and Benicio Del Toro. Viewers are tasked with connecting intricately arranged dots in this crime drama. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/01/movies/no-sudden-move-review.html) - **The Times**, Kevin Maher (★★★★☆): The critic finds the film ingeniously overstuffed and directed with devilish panache, a versatile showcase for Soderbergh’s talents in period crime drama with social critique. Performances across the board, especially from Cheadle, del Toro and Culkin, are singled out as uniformly strong. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/no-sudden-move-review-soderbergh-remains-criminally-good-hxp387hp5) - **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman: The film is a down-and-dirty, multi-tentacled crime thriller set in racially polarized 1954 Detroit in which everyone double-crosses everyone. It is an ambitious light-spirited high-twist modernist noir that is clever and blithely vicious but doesn’t quite make the old seem new again. [Read](https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/no-sudden-move-review-don-cheadle-benicio-del-toro-jon-hamm-steven-soderbergh-1234999284/) - **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (A-): The critic praises it as a taut, cynical inverse of Soderbergh's Ocean's films, highlighting the backstabbing criminals, social commentary on Detroit and capitalism, and Soderbergh's direction; it's a wicked good time with satisfying themes. [Read](https://collider.com/no-sudden-move-review-hbo-max/) - **Den of Geek**, Tony Sokol (4.5/5): The critic calls the film a deviously sexy, low-key noir heist story full of ulterior motives and subtle eroticism rather than an Ocean's-style caper. They single out the expert recreation of 1950s Detroit, the color-coded production design, and Matt Damon's chilling turn as the ultimate villain. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/no-sudden-move-review-steven-soderbergh-hbox-max-streaming/) - **Polygon**, Joshua Rivera (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it a masterpiece that blends crime caper, gangster film, and period drama about American cities' destruction, praising the performances, depth, and visual style. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/22561343/no-sudden-move-review-hbo-max-steven-soderbergh) - **The Playlist**, Jason Bailey (A-): The critic commends the film's fleet-footed direction, inventive compositions, and strong ensemble performances that bring depth to the pressure-cooker plot of double-crosses and social tensions. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/no-sudden-move-a-thrilling-yet-thoughtful-throwback-from-steven-soderbergh-tribeca-review-20210618/) - **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the twisty noirish period crime thriller for its superb ensemble cast and cool story, calling it a must-see in the Soderbergh canon that delivers satisfying entertainment reminiscent of classic '50s crime dramas. They single out the cast performances, especially Cheadle, Del Toro, and others, for making the film a cool pleasure. [Read](https://deadline.com/video/no-sudden-move-review-steven-soderbergh-hbo-max/) - **Eye for Film**, Amber Wilkinson (75/100, inferred): The critic praises Soderbergh's tight pacing and claustrophobic mood in this twisty crime thriller, highlighting the stylish fisheye lensing and jazz score, while noting the plot's complexity might be a tad overdone. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/no-sudden-move-2021-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson) - **Paste**, Brianna Zigler (6.0/10): The critic finds it measured and subdued, with low stakes, emotional distance, and a script that juggles too much, though it has patience and interesting themes about power and conspiracy. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/hbo-max/no-sudden-movie-review) - **The Wrap** (60/100, inferred): The critic finds it a first-class genre tale with entertaining performances and rich period detail but criticizes it for biting off more historical tragedy than it can chew, ultimately feeling like a hopeless recitation of doom. They single out the stylish direction, off-kilter dialogue, and strong ensemble for praise while complaining about the tacked-on gravitas at the end. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/no-sudden-move-film-review-steven-soderbergh-don-cheadle-benicio-del-toro/) ## Details - **Director:** Steven Soderbergh - **Director:** Steven Soderbergh - **Screenplay:** Ed Solomon - **Cinematography:** Steven Soderbergh - **Editor:** Steven Soderbergh - **Music:** David Holmes - **Production design:** Hannah Beachler - **Costume design:** Marci Rodgers - **Producer:** Casey Silver - **Cast:** Don Cheadle as Curtis 'Curt' Goynes; Benicio del Toro as Ronald Russo; David Harbour as Matt Wertz; Jon Hamm as Det. Joe Finney; Ray Liotta as Frank Capelli; Brendan Fraser as Douglas 'Doug' Jones; Kieran Culkin as Charley Barnes; Amy Seimetz as Mary Wertz - **Runtime:** 1h 55m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 1 July 2021 - **Genres:** Crime, Thriller - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kybqUuHscrM ## Where to watch in the US - HBO Max: streaming, uhd - Hulu: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Apple TV: buy $12.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $12.99, uhd *Checked 2026-09-10.* Also available in: AT, BG, CA, CH, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, LT, NL, NO, PA, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TH, TR, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Out of Sight* (1998), Fi1m 86: Soderbergh’s other thieves, from when the crooks still liked each other and so did we — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/out-of-sight.md) - *Devil in a Blue Dress* (1995): Cheadle again, Los Angeles in 1948, and a city that lies to its Black residents - *The Friends of Eddie Coyle* (1973): Small-time crooks in Boston, sold out by everyone, shot without a wasted frame - *Le Cercle Rouge* (1970): Melville’s heist has men in hats, hardly any talk, and no illusions about loyalty - *The Killing* (1956): Kubrick’s racetrack job, a plan that comes apart in the order it was made --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/no-sudden-move