Aahana Swrup
The action-comedy film ‘Masterplan’ centers on an unusual family reunion among three accomplished criminals who have one common goal. Chiara is a thief who breaks into vaults by hacking through security systems, while Jay prefers explosives as his weapon of choice. They’re both contacted by a seasoned crook, Roger Cavendish, who comes bearing an unexpected truth. As it turns out, the master of sleight of hand is the biological father of both small-time criminals. He has brought the two estranged and, until recently, unknown siblings together for one impossible task: stealing the Mona Lisa from the fortified walls of the Louvre. Despite initial skepticism of both the mission and Roger’s paternal claims, Jay and Chiara soon come to trust the thief for his plan and his word. Thus, the newly reunited family of three set out to undertake a monumental heist. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Masterplan Plot Synopsis
Chiara is a hacker based in Rome who uses her technological skills to get her foot in lucrative doors and steal from the wealthy. Jay, a Parisian thief, runs a similar hustle, breaking into highly secure vaults with his explosives and nicking expensive sneakers. While looking for new jobs, the duo stumble across the same posting for a break-in at a private residence in the city of Como, Italy. Convinced by the payout, both agree to the job, leading to a first meeting outside the residence on the night of the heist. Chiara and Jay seamlessly hit it off together, exchanging banter, making bets, and, most importantly, breaking in through the security channels with ease. However, once they crack open the safe inside the mansion, they’re met with an unanticipated surprise: their employer.
Roger Cavendish, the one who hired them for the job, reveals that he had orchestrated the entire heist as a test to see if Chiara and Jay could work together. As it turns out, he has a bigger job in mind for the duo. Once the younger criminals hear the scope of the payout, they have no choice but to hear Roger out. Yet, neither had been expecting his next claim of being their biological father. Instantly, Jay reaches out to his mother, who ends up confirming the claim. On the other hand, Chiara, who grew up an orphan, has DNA results and paternity tests to go off on. As all evidence lines up, the duo reluctantly make their peace with the idea. Still, they’re skeptical when the experienced thief reveals the rest of his plan. He wants to steal the painting of the Mona Lisa. Roger assures the two that if they manage to pull it off, they’ll have a line of potential buyers bidding billions for the piece.
Moreover, the next few days present the perfect opportunity to slip through the Louvre’s exceptional security system. Currently, a workers’ strike has limited the number of security personnel at the museum. Moreover, the place will be closed off for maintenance. However, the cherry on top remains the fact that Roger has managed to uncover a long-lost tunnel running under the Louvre, the Seine, and the Académie Française. Thus, with a week to prepare, the trio has to come up with a bulletproof plan to make it in and out of the Mona Lisa exhibit. Chiara is put in charge of infiltrating the museum’s security system, while Jay’s job is to run recon at the Académie Française to ensure he can blow his way through the tunnel on the day of the heist. Meanwhile, Roger is tasked with procuring a permission token from Chiara. During the prep week, tensions run high.
The pair of siblings develop a newfound rivalry in an attempt to earn the favor of their long-lost father. When they move past this phase, they move on to suspicion over the older thief’s motive. However, their fears are assuaged when they eavesdrop on a conversation between him and his attorney wherein he changes his will to leave his entire estate to his children. Finally, the day of the heist arrives. All three robbers play their parts without any major hiccups, and any unpredictability is handled through some quick thinking and problem-solving. In the end, Jay manages to steal the Mona Lisa and send it flying out of the Louvre tied to a discreet and technologically advanced balloon. The final leg of the plan arrives as the three meet up with the stolen painting in their possession. Roger asks his kids to take off in his Jaguar with the painting, while he stays behind as bait. However, as Chiara and Jay arrive at the safehouse location, they realize they have been stabbed in the back by their father.
Masterplan Ending: Is Roger Chiara and Jay’s Real Father? Why Did He Scam Them?
At the safehouse, Chiara and Jay discover that the trunk of the Jaguar, where they were stowing the Mona Lisa, is actually empty. Instead of the painting, there is a mechanical switch, and the back of the trunk seems to have been modified. In light of these discoveries, they realize that Roger must have intentionally sent them away while using the remote-powered switch to push the painting out of the trunk. Without them even realizing it, the art piece had been left behind in Paris, never leaving the mastermind’s sight. On the heels of these conclusions, a group of mercenaries also attacked the safehouse. Fortunately, Chiara and Jay anticipated this move and managed to escape with their lives. However, in the aftermath, they have to reckon with the reality of what else Roger could have lied about.
Naturally, the first thing to come under question is their apparent biological relation to the thief. Jay calls up his mother again and presses her for the truth, which leads to the revelation that Roger had paid her off to lie about their history together. From there, the rest of the deception begins to fall apart. As it turns out, Roger had been lying to them from the very beginning. He is not the world-famous thief he claims to be, nor does he have any intention of selling the Mona Lisa for a lifetime of passive income. Instead, he’s actually trying to settle a score. Apparently, Roger, whose real name is Marcus Dubrovnik, is a simple thief from New Jersey who managed to make the wrong kind of enemies. After failing to deliver a job for Van Klum, he found himself deeply indebted to the underground crime boss.
Thus, the painting of the Mona Lisa was the only price coveted enough to get Marcus out of this bind. Yet, he knows that pulling off such a job would be impossible, especially if he braves it alone. At the same time, if he gathers a team of professionals, he would have to offer financial compensation that he doesn’t possess, and Van Klum would never cough up. This means that he would have to rely on manipulation, deceit, and ultimately backstabbing to keep the Mona Lisa for himself and use it to settle his debt. For the same reason, Marcus comes up with the plan to target Chiara and Jay, two talented thieves who never knew their father, and trap them in his web of lies. Nevertheless, once the duo figures out the truth, they refuse to cut their losses. Instead, they track down their fake father.
Where is the Real Mona Lisa?
Chiara and Jay track Roger down to Van Klum’s lair using his pacemaker. Afterward, they spy on him using a drone, which is how they learn about his history with the crime lord. During the handoff, specialists examine the painting to ensure that it’s an original and even initially come to a positive conclusion. Once the piece is confirmed to be the real thing, Vank Klum shows his true colors, revealing that he never intended to let Roger walk out of his mansion alive. In turn, the latter’s full plan also reveals itself. Law enforcement authorities from both France and Italy storm the place. The French department employs gas bombs, which give the robber the cover he needs to slip away from the lair. Afterward, he makes his way to a hidden car in the distance and races toward his freedom.
However, on the way, he ends up running into Chiara and Jay, who have become unwitting victims in this chaotic showdown. Surprisingly, he makes the decision to stop and rescue them in his getaway car. Roger’s exit route takes them to a tunnel, standing on neutral ground. Yet, instead of going through with his original plan, he sacrifices himself for the pair of younger thieves, allowing them to use his exit strategy while he surrenders to the Italian forces. Still, it’s merely a year later that Roger manages to escape from the Italian prison thanks to his fake children, who have turned into real allies.
Once he has his freedom, only one question remains: what happened to the real Mona Lisa? Earlier, the thief had revealed that he never handed over the real thing to Van Klum. Instead, he only used it as bait to bring the authorities to the crime lord. In reality, even the painting he had brought along with him was a fake. Roger knows that selling the Mona Lisa isn’t an option since there’s no black market secure enough to promise their anonymity. Even so, since he went through so much trouble to steal the painting, he makes sure to hold on to it and keep it out of harm’s way. In the end, it’s revealed that the Mona Lisa is actually hanging on the walls of Trattoria Mona Lisa, a small, local restaurant in Italy.
Why Does Roger Help Chiara and Jay? Why Does He Surrender?
Despite his earlier betrayals, Roger surprises everyone with his final decision during the escape from Van Kulm’s residence. As he’s driving away, he spots Chiara and Jay on the road. Instead of ignoring them, he goes back for them and takes them along with him. Not only that, but he also makes the ultimate sacrifice for the pair of thieves. At the tunnel, he tells them about an exit door that could lead them towards freedom. It would give them a chance to escape both the French and Italian forces waiting for them on the opposite ends of the tunnel. Yet, instead of going through the door himself, he tells Chiara and Jay to take the exit while he surrenders himself to the cops.
The logic behind this sacrifice is the same as the one Roger faked in Paris. In the aftermath of the crime, the police are bound to be looking for suspects. Therefore, Chiara and Jay will have a better chance of escaping if the other assumes the role of the scapegoat and throws the police off their scent. In the moment, Roger has no real reason to make this sacrifice. In fact, he had sent mercenaries after them earlier, signifying that he was open to the idea of exploiting them and discarding them. Nonetheless, when he’s actually faced with making the choice again, he realizes he can’t condemn the kids he had pretended to form a family with over the past week.
Roger, Chiara, and Jay’s storylines make it clear that thievery and criminality make for a lonely life. They’re so caught up in deception that trust becomes a costly thing not even afforded between actual family, as proven by Jay’s mother. This is why it’s so easy for Roger to dupe the duo into believing he’s their father. The two of them are already desperate for a connection of some sort, so they jump at the idea of having a family of criminal masterminds. However, in the end, the veteran thief realizes that he can set a different example for the duo. He can show them what real selflessness and sacrifice look like in the hopes of earning their trust in turn. Ultimately, this works out for him, as this act of sacrifice cements him as a real father figure in their lives despite his lack of biological connection to them. Inversely, Chiara and Jay also prove their own loyalty to him by helping him escape from prison a year later.
Read More: Where Was Masterplan Filmed? All Shooting Locations
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