''The Last Deal'' is a 2023 American

crime thriller film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film, but al ...

written and directed by Jonathan Salemi. It stars Anthony Molinari,

Sala Baker Sala Baker (born 22 September 1976) is a New Zealand actor and stuntman. He is best known for portraying the villain Sauron in the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy by Peter Jackson. Career Originally hired as one of several stunt performers fo ...

, Jeffri Lauren, Mister Fitzgerald, Mike Ferguson and Audra Van Hees. The film premiered at The

Boston International Film Festival The Boston International Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Boston, Massachusetts which showcases over 90 films annually. Established in 2003 by film producer Patrick Jerome, the festival features independent films from ...

on April 15, 2022 where Salemi won The Best Director Award at the festival. The film later went on to make its Los Angeles premiere at

Dances With Films Dances With Films (DWF) is an annual independent film festival located in Los Angeles, California and New York. It was founded by Leslee Scallon and Michael Trent. Lineup Taking place every year since 1998, the festival is dedicated to representi ...

on June 10, 2022. Scatena & Rosner Films gave the film a limited 22 theater release in the United States on February 3, 2023 before the film premiered on

Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

in June 2023. The crime thriller received acclaim from critics, who praised Salemi's direction and large production scope albeit the film's low budget, and the performance of Molinari. The film was included in

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

"Five Action Films to Stream Now".

Plot

Inspired by true events, the film is about a black market marijuana dealer that tries to make one final score before getting squeezed out of the business when cannabis becomes legal.

Release

''The Last Deal'' had its world premiere at the

on April 15, 2022, taking home the Best Director Award for Salemi. The film later screened at

on June 10, 2022 at

Grauman's Chinese Theater Grauman's Chinese Theatre, known as the Chinese colloquially and officially billed as TCL Chinese Theatre for sponsorship reasons, is a movie palace on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United S ...

in Hollywood, California. It received a limited 22 theater release in the United States on February 3, 2023 before the film premiered on

in June 2023.

Reception

The film has a 100% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

from critics and was included in

' "Five Action Films to Stream Now". The film won a Best Director award for Jonathan Salemi at the

and won the jury prize for Best Performance for Molinari at the

San Antonio Film Festival The San Antonio Film Festival (SAFILM) was founded in 1994 by Adam Rocha as a video festival. It was later renamed the San Antonio Underground Film Festival and then finally the San Antonio Film Festival. It is now the biggest film festival in So ...

References

2023 films {{improve categories, date=May 2024 American crime films