What Crooks is about — and why it hits differently
Crooks is a 2026 crime thriller built around one bad decision that spirals into something much worse. Faye and Johnny are small-time partners who pull off a genuinely dangerous job — knocking over a mob-run poker game deep inside Chicago's criminal underworld. It should have been a clean split. Instead, Faye takes the money and runs, leaving Johnny behind and putting herself directly in the crosshairs of the oldest, most lethal assassin the city has ever produced. That's already a lot. But then Faye stops at a truck stop diner and meets Blanche — a waitress who is friendly in the way that people sometimes are when something's not quite right with them — and the film tilts into something stranger and harder to categorize. At 76 minutes, Crooks doesn't waste a frame.
How Crooks came together — cast, production, and the road to Tribeca
The story behind Crooks is almost as circuitous as Faye's escape route. According to Wikipedia's entry on the film, development on the project began as far back as 2018 with a different lead cast entirely — meaning writer-director Mickey Keating carried this story for the better part of a decade before cameras finally rolled. Production eventually wrapped in Chicago in October 2024, with the city's gritty architectural texture and flat Midwestern light serving as the film's de facto co-star.
Keating — known for lean, genre-savvy work — assembled a cast that should get more attention than it typically does. Angela Trimbur plays Faye, and she's genuinely compelling in a role that demands the audience feel conflicted about rooting for her. Chase Williamson takes on Johnny, the partner left holding nothing. Melora Walters brings Blanche to life, and if you've seen Walters in anything from Magnolia onward, you already know she can do unhinged warmth better than almost anyone working. Keith Kupferer rounds out the principals as "The Fixer," the assassin on Faye's trail — a character whose very title suggests someone who has been cleaning up messes for longer than Faye has been alive.
The film is set to world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 7, 2026, which is a meaningful endorsement for a project of this scale. Tribeca has historically championed American independent crime films with strong voice and limited budget, and Crooks fits that profile precisely. As of this writing, no general theatrical release date has been confirmed, and there are no critic scores or box-office figures available — the film simply hasn't opened beyond the festival circuit yet. Hard to say if that'll change quickly, but the Tribeca slot suggests distribution conversations are already happening.
The production was handled across four companies: Like Minded Entertainment, Monte Rosso Production, Celluloid Dreams, and Missing Link Productions. That kind of multi-party independent financing is common for festival-circuit crime films, and it usually means the creative team retained significant control over tone and cut.
The performances that anchor Crooks — and what makes the film worth watching
What's striking is how much Crooks seems to trust its actors over its plot mechanics. The premise — double-cross, pursuit, deadline — is familiar noir architecture. But Keating's script, at least based on everything available ahead of the premiere, appears to locate its tension in character behavior rather than set-piece choreography. Faye isn't a traditional femme fatale. She's a woman who made a calculated choice and is now living inside the consequences of it, mile by mile.
Trimbur has been doing strong work in genre films for years without quite getting the mainstream recognition she deserves (that parenthetical is worth sitting with — she's been this good for a while). Her physicality and the way she plays intelligence without telegraphing it should make Faye one of the more memorable protagonists in this year's festival circuit.
The Blanche dynamic is the film's wild card. A friendly but unstable waitress at a roadside truck stop is exactly the kind of character that can either feel like a quirky distraction or become the emotional center of the whole thing. Walters, based on her track record, is more likely to make it the latter. There's a scene — early in their dynamic, from what the production materials suggest — where Blanche's warmth and her volatility exist in the same breath, and that tension is precisely what noir needs to stay alive past its setup.
I keep coming back to the 76-minute runtime. Not because brevity is automatically a virtue, but because it signals a filmmaker who knew exactly what story he was telling and refused to pad it. Movie OTT tracks hundreds of streaming titles across every major platform, and the ones that tend to hold up on rewatch are almost always the ones that didn't overstay their welcome.
Where to stream Crooks online
Crooks is making its debut at the Tribeca Festival in June 2026, and wide streaming availability will follow as distribution deals are finalized. The Where-to-Watch widget at the top of this page reflects the most current platform availability — Movie OTT updates that data in real time as new licensing agreements are confirmed, so it's the most reliable place to check before you go hunting across apps manually.
Once the film lands on major OTT services, it's the kind of tight, atmospheric thriller that suits streaming well — the 76-minute runtime means you can watch it in a single sitting without rearranging your evening. Movie OTT tracks current streaming availability across platforms including Netflix, Prime Video, and others, and will flag Crooks the moment it goes live anywhere. Don't sleep on the festival window either; some Tribeca titles move to digital platforms within weeks of their premiere.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Who directed Crooks (2026)?
Crooks was written and directed by Mickey Keating, a filmmaker known for stylized, genre-driven American independents. The project reportedly began development in 2018 before finally shooting in Chicago in late 2024.
Q: Where can I watch Crooks?
Crooks is set to world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 7, 2026, and has not yet confirmed a wide streaming or theatrical release date. Check the Where-to-Watch widget on this page — Movie OTT updates platform availability as soon as new deals are announced.
Q: Who stars in Crooks?
The film stars Angela Trimbur as Faye, Chase Williamson as Johnny, Melora Walters as the waitress Blanche, and Keith Kupferer as the assassin known as The Fixer. Trimbur carries the film as the lead.
Q: Is Crooks based on a true story?
No — Crooks is an original screenplay by Mickey Keating set in a stylized, noir-inflected version of Chicago's criminal underworld. The characters and events are fictional, though the Chicago locations ground the film in a recognizable physical reality.
Q: How long is Crooks?
Crooks runs approximately 76 minutes, making it a tight single-sitting watch. Some festival materials have listed a runtime closer to 80 minutes, so the final cut may vary slightly depending on the version screened.
Final thoughts on Crooks — who should watch it
Crooks is for anyone who wants a crime film that moves fast and doesn't explain itself to death. If you've got patience for noir that earns its mood rather than announcing it, Mickey Keating's long-gestating project looks like it was worth the wait. Melora Walters alone is reason enough to show up. Keep this one on your radar — and keep the Movie OTT page bookmarked so you catch it the moment it lands on a platform near you. This won't be a film that benefits from waiting too long.
