''The Instigators'' is a 2024 American heist

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Doug Liman Douglas Eric Liman (; born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Go'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005), '' Jumper'' (2008), '' E ...

and written by Chuck Maclean and

Casey Affleck Casey Affleck (born Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt; August 12, 1975) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Casey Affleck, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film ...

. The film stars Affleck and

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon ( ; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received va ...

, with a supporting cast that includes

Hong Chau Hong Chau (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress. She has received several award nominations for her film roles as Ngoc Lan Tran in '' Downsizing'' (2017) and as Liz, a nurse, in '' The Whale'' (2022), including a nomination for the Academ ...

Michael Stuhlbarg Michael Stuhlbarg ( ; born July 5, 1968) is an American actor. Known for his character roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades, including a Drama Desk Award, an Obie Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition ...

Paul Walter Hauser Paul Walter Hauser (born October 15, 1986) is an American actor and wrestler. He is best known for his portrayal of Stingray in the Netflix series ''Cobra Kai'' and providing the voice of Embarrassment in Pixar's ''Inside Out 2'' (2024). He pla ...

Ving Rhames Irving Rameses Rhames ( ; born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the Mission: Impossible (film series), ''Mission: Impossible'' film series (1996–2025) and crime boss Marsellus Wal ...

Alfred Molina Alfred Molina (born Alfredo Molina; 24 May 1953) is a British and American actor. He is known for his leading roles and character actor roles on the stage and screen. In a career spanning over five decades he has received a Drama Desk Award ...

Toby Jones Toby Edward Heslewood Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 7 September 1966) is an English actor. He is known for his extensive character actor roles on stage and screen. From 1989 ...

Jack Harlow Jackman Thomas Harlow (born March 13, 1998) is an American rapper and singer. He began his recording career in 2015, and released several EPs and mixtapes until signing with Don Cannon and DJ Drama's record label Generation Now, an imprint of A ...

, and

Ron Perlman Ronald N. Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in ''Quest for Fire (film), Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose (film), The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in th ...

. ''The Instigators'' was given a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in the United States on August 2, 2024, before making its streaming debut on

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

on August 9, 2024. The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

In the upcoming night of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

's mayoral election, corrupt incumbent Joseph Miccelli is organizing a celebration at the Wharf, expecting a massive influx of cash bribes. Local mobsters Besegai and Dechico plan to steal the money before it is picked up by armored car. They enlist their underling Scalvo, divorced Marine veteran Rory, and alcoholic ex-con Cobby Murphy. Rory is adamant that he receive a share of exactly $32,480 and struggles to explain his motivations to his therapist, Dr. Rivera, while Cobby's bartender Mr. Kelly warns him not to return to his criminal ways. The three would-be robbers sneak in through the kitchen, expecting to find it empty, but the event is still full of people; challenger Mark Choi has won the election, but Miccelli refuses to concede. The Wharf's safe has already been emptied, so Scalvo robs Miccelli and his inner circle instead, taking Miccelli's bracelet. When the chief of police intervenes, he and Scalvo shoot and kill each other and Cobby is wounded in the shoulder. He and Rory escape in the armored car, which they subsequently abandon after discovering an additional guard in the back of the truck. Laying low at Mr. Kelly's house, Rory and Cobby ask Dechico for help, but he sends thugs Booch and Colani to kill them instead. With a manhunt for the thieves underway, Miccelli tasks Frank Toomey of the Special Operations Unit to recover the bracelet, which is engraved with the combination to his office safe. Toomey questions Dechico, while Rory confides to Cobby that his share of the money is meant to make amends with his estranged son. Booch and Colani arrive to murder the two thieves, who have cut the house's gas line. Rory and Cobby escape with the bracelet as the house explodes. Rory brings Cobby to Dr. Rivera, after she agrees to be a willing hostage. They treat Cobby's gunshot wound, but are forced to flee in Rivera's car after she calls the police. Still determined to help Rory, Rivera joins them and they narrowly survive a high-speed police chase. Breaking into Mr. Kelly's empty bar, the three are confronted by Toomey, who leaves with Rivera and the bracelet. Surrounded by police, Cobby cuts the gas line again and escapes with Rory as the bar explodes. Having memorized the combination, Cobby and Rory go to the mayor's office. Disguised as firefighters, they set off the fire alarms in

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

and sneak inside, locking themselves in the mayor's office with his counsel, Alan Flynn. Unlocking Miccelli's safe, they discover millions of dollars in illicit cash, while Flynn offers to testify against Miccelli, giving them two

hard drives A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...

with evidence of the mayor's misdeeds. The police surround City Hall and open fire, wounding Cobby again in the same shoulder. Sent in to negotiate with the thieves, Rivera exits the building with Flynn, while Rory and Cobby push the safe out of the window, leading the crowd outside to scramble for the cash. In the chaos, Rory and Cobby escape in a fire truck, but are soon confronted by Toomey, driving an assault armored vehicle. They offer him the drives in exchange for letting them go free, but he takes them into custody instead. Meanwhile, Besegai and Dechico escape to a cabin and attempt to reach the Canadian border on foot, while Miccelli is arrested at

Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport — also known as Boston Logan International Airport — is an international airport located mostly in East Boston and partially in Winthrop, Massachusetts, United States. Covering , it has ...

attempting to flee the state in disguise. Choi takes office and is given the drives, which hold account information worth $100 million in untraceable funds. Realizing that he can keep the money for himself as long as they don't indict Cobby and Rory, Choi lets them go, under the auspices of his Second Chance criminal justice reform platform. Rory reconnects with his son at a hockey game, while Cobby visits Rivera at home. In a

mid-credits scene A post-credits scene (also known as a stinger, end tag, or credit cookie) is a short teaser clip that appears after the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV show, or video game has run. It is usually i ...

, Besegai and Dechico are found frozen to death in the Canadian wilderness.

Cast

Production

In December 2022,

acquired the rights to the project, which would see

directing and

and

starring.

joined the cast in February 2023, with other cast members being announced in the following months.

Christophe Beck Jean-Christophe Beck (born in 1968) is a Canadian television and film score composer. He is best known for his collaborations with Disney and its subsidiaries, which include composing the soundtracks of '' The Muppets'' (2011) and '' Muppets Mos ...

composed the film's score. ''The Instigators'' was produced by

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globes. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educatio ...

and Damon under their production company

Artists Equity Artists Equity is an American production company founded by actors and filmmakers Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in November 2022. History In June 2022, It was announced that American actors and filmmakers Ben Affleck and Matt Damon would be laun ...

, alongside Jeff Robinov, John Graham,

Kevin J. Walsh Kevin J. Walsh is an American film and TV producer. Walsh is best known for producing the critically acclaimed films ''Napoleon'', ''House of Gucci'', and '' Manchester by the Sea'', in which he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Pictur ...

and Alison Winter, for distribution by

under

Apple Original Films Apple TV+ is a global on-demand Internet streaming media provider, owned and operated by Apple Inc., that features a number of original programs that includes original series, specials, miniseries, documentaries, and films distributed under A ...

. According to the film's

closing credits Closing credits, aka end credits or end titles, are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television show, or video game. While opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to or at th ...

, the production benefitted from fiscal incentives established in Spanish Corporate Income Tax Law, with collaboration of

Government of Spain The government of Spain () is the central government which leads the executive branch and the General State Administration of the Kingdom of Spain. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and the Ministers; the prime minister has the ...

; the

post-production Post-production, also known simply as post, is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording indivi ...

services were carried out in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

in March 2023, with locations including Bova's Bakery in North End and the

Nassau University Medical Center Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC) is a public teaching hospital, teaching and Safety net hospital, safety net hospital in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County led by Dr. Irina Gelman and Megan C. Ryan. The 19-story, 631-bed Level I Traum ...

in East Meadow.

Release

''The Instigators'' was released in select theaters in the United States on August 2, 2024, before premiering on

on August 9.

Reception

Future

In September 2024, Affleck and Damon said they were in early talks with Apple executives to star in a sequel, with Liman possibly returning to direct.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Instigators, The 2020s American films 2020s comedy thriller films 2024 crime comedy films 2024 crime thriller films 2020s English-language films 2020s heist films American comedy thriller films American crime comedy films American crime thriller films American heist films Apple TV+ original films Artists Equity films English-language comedy thriller films English-language crime comedy films Fictional portrayals of the Boston Police Department Films directed by Doug Liman Films with screenplays by Casey Affleck Films produced by Ben Affleck Films produced by Matt Damon Films scored by Christophe Beck Films set in Boston Films shot in Boston Films shot in New York (state) English-language crime thriller films