Everyone Is Saying the Same Thing About Crime 101

Early buzz says Chris Hemsworth’s Crime 101 delivers, with critics praising its sharp structure and standout performances. Written and directed by documentary veteran Bart Layton, the London-premiered adaptation of Don Winslow’s 2020 novella is barreling toward release.

Chris Hemsworth has a new crime thriller on deck, and the early chatter says it hits like a classy throwback with movie-star heat. The film is Bart Layton's Crime 101, and the first wave of reactions rolled in ahead of its wide release.

The setup

Crime 101 is written and directed by Bart Layton, the filmmaker who cut his teeth in documentaries, and you can feel that fingerprints-all-over-it rigor in the way people are talking about the movie. It premiered in London on January 28, 2026, and lands for everyone else on February 13, 2026. The story comes from Don Winslow's 2020 novella, and the cast is stacked: Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry, Barry Keoghan, Corey Hawkins, and Monica Barbaro, among others. Also notable: this is the first time Hemsworth and Ruffalo have teamed outside the MCU. Different kind of smashing here.

Early buzz: stylish, grown-up, a little moody

Overall, the response leans positive. Reviewers highlight the film's structure and pacing, a clear reverence for classic crime sagas (Michael Mann gets name-checked a lot, with Walter Hill in the conversation too), and sharp performances across the board. Ruffalo and Berry, in particular, keep getting singled out. Some folks also point to Layton's doc roots giving the whole thing a steely, unromantic edge about midlife grind and what a job becomes when it's less about scoring big and more about outrunning the rest of your life.

"Crime 101 feels like a crime thriller ripped straight out of the early 90s, and I mean that as the highest compliment."

Not everyone is over the moon. A few reactions call out a long runtime and story threads that take their time to click, though even the more mixed takes give big ups to Barry Keoghan for electrifying the screen whenever he shows up, and they tip their cap to a strong final act.

"Halle Berry's all-timer monologue earns our applause."

What people are saying

• Bill Bria sees a clear hat-tip to Mann and Walter Hill, but with Layton's cool, documentary-born, no-frills perspective on middle-age malaise steering the tone. His verdict on the ensemble: "Killer cast!"
• Dustin Putman calls it a top-notch crime thriller with a brooding vibe, thorny moral questions, and lively character work. He clocks it as a delicious return to intelligent, adult-oriented studio fare, and labels Ruffalo and Berry the MVPs.
• Scott Menzel vibes with the film's 90s-flavored aesthetic and across-the-board performances, while noting the length as his one gripe. The nostalgia hits in the best way.
• Courtney Howard frames it as a love letter to Michael Mann's Thief, Collateral, and Heat. She praises Ruffalo's work, calls Keoghan's dirtbike-riding dirtbag unpredictable, and spotlights Monica Barbaro's presence alongside that showstopper Berry monologue.
• Jonathan Sim says the movie has all the right 90s ingredients but takes a while to spark. He finds too many tracks playing at once early on, yet says the film roars whenever Keoghan enters, and the finale delivers.

The bottom line

If you crave smart, muscular crime storytelling over wall-to-wall CG, this sounds squarely in that lane. Crime 101 opens February 13, 2026. Layton not only wrote and directed, he also produced, alongside Hemsworth.