‘Triple 9’ Trailer: An Intense Heist Thriller With an Insane Cast

I don’t think I’ve ever not recognized Kate Winslet in a movie before. But I didn’t spot her in the latest trailer for Triple 9. It wasn’t until her name flashed onscreen that I even realized it was her — and even then I had to rewind to see for myself. According to Wikipedia, which is never wrong, she plays “a Russian-Israeli Mafia moll.” My second favorite kind of Mafia moll!

The rest of the Triple 9 cast is easier to recognize, but no less impressive. You’ve got Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Aaron Paul, and incoming Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot. That’s quite a list of actors for a movie about a couple of robberies perpetrated by a bunch of crooks (and some crooked cops). My guess is they were drawn to the project not by the story, but by the director: John Hillcoat, who made the awesome Aussie Western The Proposition, along with the big-screen adaptation of The Road and the bootlegging thriller Lawless. He tends to attract big-name talent with his upscale approach to genre movies.

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

When a crew of dirty cops is blackmailed by the Russian mob to execute a virtually impossible heist, they realize the only way to pull it off is to manufacture a 999, police code for “officer down.” The chaos that ensues when a police officer is shot in the line of duty is just the diversion they’ll need to do the job, but whether they have the will to kill one of their own is an entirely different matter. Their plan is turned upside down when the unsuspecting rookie they set up to die foils the attack, triggering a breakneck, action packed finale tangled with double-crosses, greed and revenge.

Hillcoat’s work is known for its grit and bleakness, and both of those qualities are on display in this trailer. Everyone looks angry and miserable and sweaty, and a lot of the characters could use a haircut. Not Kate Winslet, though. She looks incredible. Triple 9 opens in theaters on February 19, 2016.