King of Thieves

At the funeral of LynReader (Francesca Annis), retired thief Brian Reader finds himself drawn back into the world he left behind. A circle of old rivals gathers in the shadows of the ceremony, and talk inevitably turns to one last score against the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit. The crew is a blend of seasoned grifters and a single young insider: the alarms expert Basil, who carries a crucial key to an exterior door of the building. Among the familiar faces are Danny Jones, who keeps a wary eye on the odds, Terry Perkins whose calm demeanor masks deeper nerves, and Kenny Collins with a lifetime of small-time schemes behind him, all working under the implied leadership of the wary mastermind, Brian.

They settle on staging the heist over the Easter weekend, a window chosen to maximize time inside the deposit building while minimizing the chance of exposure. The plan hinges on deception and patience: the men pose as gas repair technicians, move through the building with practiced ease, and systematically deactivate the alarms by trial and error. A hiccup arrives when the heavy cabinet that protects the vault is jostled by a faulty jack, which breaks and momentarily throws their timetable into jeopardy. With the clock ticking, the crew leaves to return with a fresh tool, hoping to complete the job in a single, audacious strike.

But Brian has a change of heart. He decides the risk is too great to press on with the original plan, and he withdraws from the imminent return to the vault. Basil, sensing opportunity, seeks a way to secure a bigger share by appealing to Brian’s appetite for a smarter, more one-sided payoff. He gives Brian a note listing the boxes that contain the most valuable diamonds and promises to share half of his own potential cut in return for Brian’s tacit blessing to go ahead on Basil’s terms. The promise is enough to renew Basil’s conviction to push forward, and it isn’t long before the crew returns with a replacement tool and succeeds in moving the cabinet away from the vault wall so two of them can clamber through into the restricted space.

Inside the vault, they methodically pry open a number of safety deposit boxes, unearthing a staggering haul—more than £14 million in jewels and cash. The gang stuffs the loot into duffel bags, and they drive away to regroup and split the spoils. The tension rises as they reconvene at a robber’s house to divide the money; Basil discovers that the older thieves never intended to split fairly with him. Fearing for his safety, he grabs a chunk of cash and bolts, leaving with the high-value diamonds Brian had identified for him.

Meanwhile, the police intensify their investigation. CCTV footage traces a car linked to one of the suspects, and investigators quickly use the plate to piece together identities, tapping the gang’s phones and shadowing their movements. The widening net throws the group into a new spiral of suspicion and paranoia, with every unguarded confession or half-truth feeding the evidence against them. Brian presses for equal shares, but the others grow increasingly wary of his leadership as their relationships fray.

As the plan for a final, formal split of the loot is mapped out, law enforcement moves in. The arrest unfolds at the gang’s meeting point, while Brian is taken into custody at his own home. Basil, who had managed to slip away during the Easter weekend by wearing a disguise, remains at large, having escaped with part of the loot and a cache of diamonds.

In the end, the old thieves are left to face the consequences, the police work lying heavy on their shoulders. They are shown preparing for court, appearing calm about the looming sentence, and, perhaps most tellingly, they seem to accept BrianReader as their de facto ringleader once more, even as the weight of their choices closes in around them. The narrative lingers on the uneasy mix of loyalty and greed that defines the group, a stark reminder that the lure of one last score can outlast even the strongest bonds.

Last Updated: January 08, 2026 at 12:00