Heist 88 is a thriller film following a criminal mastermind who attempts to orchestrate the biggest bank heist in US history. Inspired by true events, the film is streaming on Showtime and Paramount+.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary:
Jeremy Horne travels to Chicago to attend a memorial service for his late brother. He meets his nephew Marshall, who needs some help with money because he owes a lot to some terrifying loan sharks.
Marshall introduces Jeremy to his friends Rick, Danny, and LaDonna in the hopes that Jeremy can convince them to help Marshall with a bank loan since the three of them work at the First National Bank of Chicago.
LaDonna works in transfers while Ricke and Danny work the night shift in the cheque-clearing department. The three of them are working minimum wage and have tough lives at home.
Jeremy approaches the four of them and suggests robbing the bank using a glitch in their system so that they can put an end to their problems once and for all. They aren’t initially convinced but decide to work with him after realizing that they have no prospective growth at the current rate.
Bank transfers involve a special transfer code and a second confirmation call after the initial call for the transfer is made. LaDonna has access to those codes and Jeremy plans to train Rick to mimic the voices of specific executives working at their target companies.
Jeremy also meets his former partners, Buddha Ray and Bree, while he’s in Chicago. They are not on good terms with him after their last job almost went awry.
LaDonna overhears that the bank systems are being computerized very soon so they have to move up their plan before that happens. Jeremy meets Buddha Ray and Bree and tells them that he’s pulling in one last score before turning himself in for the last job. He also reveals an ankle monitor to back this up.
They act as a distraction as Jeremy sneaks into the bank to get the latest bank balances of the companies they are going to rob. Rick has his doubts about the job, and when he notices Bree and Buddha Ray, he tells the others about it.
They confront Jeremy with their concerns but he tells them that when he was growing up, he did things the right way and got nothing for it until he realized that doing things the not-so-right way had more benefits.
Everything is in place for the big job and the day finally arrives.
Heist 88 ending explained in detail:
How does the job go?
Jeremy stands by a payphone outside the bank, LaDonna takes her place at the transfers desk and Danny takes the spot of one of his colleagues after distracting them with a comic book.
Rick is at his home ready to receive the calls and pretend to be the executives. Marshall is the getaway driver, waiting nearby for when the job is done to take them to the airport for their escape.
There are some issues initially when the connection to Rick’s phone isn’t working, but he fixes it and they go through with the transfers. Marshall takes them all to a hotel room where they wait for Jeremy who is supposed to transfer the funds to an account in Geneva.
However, he is told by the bank that he needs to be physically present at the clearing house for the transfer to be approved.
What happens after the heist?
Marshall, Rick, Danny, and LaDonna wait at the hotel for a few hours and believe that Jeremy has vanished with the money. He eventually shows up with passports and plane tickets the next day.
He tells them that they’ll be leaving that afternoon and before that, he has to go to the clearing house and get the transfer approved. He accomplishes that and calls up Bree who is in Geneva with Buddha Ray ready to collect the money.
He gives Bree 25% of his cut and Buddha Ray 20% of his cut as the crew heads to the airport.
What happens to Jeremy and the others?
While they are waiting at the airport, Danny and the others express some concern about leaving their families behind but Marshall reminds them that they can fly them out to wherever they are going and live easy lives from here on out.
Jeremy tells them that they will have no communication with each other throughout the flight and keep a low profile. While he’s waiting to board, he sees Danny talking on a payphone and walks up to him. Danny says that he was talking with his pregnant wife but soon after, some FBI agents walk up to them.
Jeremy tells Danny to run while surrenders. The authorities chase the others and surround them on a walkway before arresting all of them. It is revealed that Danny had noticed Jeremy’s ankle monitor earlier and decided to be an informant to the FBI.
He went through with the plan so that the FBI could have a clear case against Jeremy but they aren’t able to recover al of the money.
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