CRIME 101

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Alex

In the early morning hours in Los Angeles, various people get up to begin their day. Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth), a jewelry thief, carefully scrubs himself of all hair and DNA. Sharon (Halle Berry) who works for an extremely high-end insurance company, listens to her motivational podcast and checks her sleep quality app (not good). Detective Lou Lubesnick argues in his small bathroom with his wife Angie (Jennifer Jason Leigh).

A high end jewelry store has hired couriers to transport three million dollars worth of expensive diamonds. Though the courier has a decoy set of diamonds, Mike first subdues the driver of the follow car and steals it. He then follows the main courier to the delivery point. He puts a ski mask on and gets the jump on them, taking their guns and phones. He quickly discards the fake diamonds for the real ones. One of the young couriers has a hidden gun and fires across through Mike’s car window, but he does not return fire, instead fleeing to a garage where he drops his vehicle off, swaps it with another one, and escapes. When he gets home, he is upset to realize the glass from the window cut him slightly, leaving DNA at the scene.

The next day, Sharon goes to extremely wealthy client Steven Monroe’s (Tate Donovan) house to appraise his massive art collection. He is soon to marry a much young woman, and Sharon inquires about arranging insurance for his wedding as well. At work, she is not given a ton of respect by her peers, particularly her boss Mark (Paul Adelstein) who has told her she is getting promoted to partner but continues to delay and delay it. Lou and his partner Tillman (Corey Hawkins) investigate the robbery scene. His partner mocks his car while Lou believes that a series of robberies all near the 101 freeway are the same man.

Mike’s fence, Money (Nick Nolte), suggests Mike do a robbery in Santa Barbara that he looked into, but Mike insists that the plan is too dangerous and could result in someone being hurt; one of his rules is that he will not hurt any other people in any of his robberies. Money tells Mike to blow off some steam, which he does by having a half-hearted encounter with a call girl. Behind Mike’s back, Money takes all the details of the Santa Barbara job – which Mike gets through a friend Devon who hacks emails of insurance companies – and gives them to Ormon (Barry Keoghan), the son of one of his former accomplices.

In traffic, a woman named Maya (Monica Barbara) accidentally rear-ends Mike’s vintage car. They exchange insurance information, though Mike is clearly a little awkward and shy. Meanwhile, Sharon meets with Lou on behalf of her work to ask him to polygraph the jeweler who had just been robbed before filling his insurance claim. Meanwhile, Lou tells his fellows detectives that the crimes all have the same traits – off the 101, no violence, no DNA left at the crime scene. His boss tells him by connecting all the crimes he is creating more work and not being a team player and insists he drop it.

Ormon commits the robbery in Santa Monica extremely violently, including smashing the jewelry counters and stealing way more than he was planning on. Meanwhile, Mike and Maya continue to date, though she realizes she doesn’t know very much about his past and has seen no photos of his family. Mike sees the news about the Santa Barbara robbery and angrily confronts Money, who doesn’t care one bit and is insulted that Mike dares to question him. Mike refuses to work with Money on any more jewelry grabs, but Money tells Ormon to follow Mike to his next job and steal the jewels from Mike once he has gotten them.

Mike sees Ormon watching him and discovers that he has put a tracker on his car. Meanwhile, Lou finds the car Mike abandoned in the garage and learns from the crime scene tech that some of the thief’s blood was finally left behind in the vehicle. Meanwhile, Devon has hacked Sharon’s e-mail, learning about diamonds being delivered for Monroe’s wedding. He gives the information to Mike, who deliberately runs into Sharon to introduce himself. He explains he is a thief and would like her to help him steal from the insurance company who never respected her; she in insulted and refuses. He tells her to post a photo of a beach on her Instagram if she changes her mind. Mike sees that Ormon is following him on his motorcycle and pursues him in a high speed chase. Ormon crashes and flees on foot, but Mike catches him and tells him if he continues Ormon and Money will both be dead.

Angie tells Lou she is having an affair and he moves out and starts trying yoga, where he coincidentally runs into Sharon. Another unrelated robbery occurs, and Lou and Tillman arrive on the scene where another officer shoots the unarmed robber, a teenager. The officer plants a gun on the robber, and Lou’s boss insists he say the man was armed since the other officer and even Tillman are saying he did. He is told it he needs to have the other officer’s back, but Lou refuses and all involved are suspended during the investigation. Meanwhile, Sharon finally confronts Mark about another delay in her partnership; he insults her, calls her old and unwanted at 53 years old, and tells her she has no standing to do anything to him. Sharon then posts a photo of the beach to reach out to Mike.

The DNA from the car leads Lou to Mike’s record under his real name, James. He finds James’s former foster mother and convinces her to call Mike – she does, but he hangs up once she passes the phone to Lou. Sharon and Mike meet up, and she informs him about Monroe’s wedding party favors – jewels – being couriered in from the black market so he can avoid taxes. The total is worth 11 million, and she agrees to help Mike for three and lets him know he can keep the rest. Ormon finds and attacks Devon to get the information on Mike’s next job; he then goes to Sharon’s home and violently attacks her for information on the Monroe heist.

At yoga, Lou sees Sharon’s black eye and she confesses everything to him. He lets her hide out at his new apartment until he can find out more. Mike tells Maya that he is going to leave town for a while and asks her to wait, but she is angered by his vague explanation and refusal to tell her what’s going on. At work, Sharon sees Mark lying to another female employee. She enters, tell the young woman the truth about Mark and quits, telling Mark to fuck off.

On the day of the Monroe courier, Lou pretends intercepts the actual courier and replaces him. Mike picks him up, not knowing who Lou really is, and Mike Lou to Monroe’s hotel. Ormon poses as an employee to sneak into the hotel. When Mike and Lou walk into Monroe’s room, Mike pulls a gun and demands Lou give him the contents of the case. Lou opens the case, where he has hidden his own gun. He pulls it and reveals himself as a police officer. Before Mike can decide what to do, Ormon enters with his own gun, holding Mike at gunpoint and demanding the diamonds. Ormon aims his gun at Lou, but Mike intervenes, breaking his rule of no violence, and shoots Ormon. Lou lets Mike flee empty-handed, blaming Ormon for his robberies, and threatens Monroe to tell about his tax violations if he tells the truth about the robbery.

Lou swaps the decoy diamonds from the first robbery and swaps them with Monroe’s. At the next yoga class, he gives them to Sharon and the two have a warm connection. Mike sends Sharon a photo to give to Lou – when he figures out where it is, he arrives and finds that Mike has left behind for him his vintage Chevy Camaro. At work, Maya discovers Mike has sent her a childhood photo of him with a note – “I was wrong, I hope it’s not too late.” Maya smiles and goes off to find him.

Mike (Chris Hemsworth) is a jewel thief who refuses to use violence in his robberies, usually of jewelry couriers. His former fence, Money (Nick Nolte) gives one of Mike’s jobs to a violent young criminal named Ormon (Barry Keoghan), who brutalizes people, angering Mike. Mike asks Sharon (Halle Berry), a high-end insurance agent, to help him with information on a robbery for a wealthy client. She refuses initially, but after she is mistreated at work, she agrees to help by giving him information on the client’s delivery. Detective Lou Lubsenick (Mark Ruffalo) poses as the courier to try to catch Mike, who goes forward with the robbery. During the final robbery on Monroe, Mike Lou and Ormon all arrive with guns drawn. Mike shoots Ormon to stop him from shooting Lou, and Lou, knowing Mike was never violent, lets him go.

Lou swaps Monroe’s diamonds with fakes and gives the real ones to Sharon; Mike leaves Lou his vintage chevy Camaro as a thank you, and reaches out to Maya (Monica Barbara) a woman he has begun dating but had never been able to open up to.