The trailer for Bart Layton’s upcoming thriller film Crime 101 was released this week. The trailer introduces sun-soaked Los Angeles as both the setting and battleground for a world of high-stakes crime. The Hollywood Reporter notes that the film is led by Chris Hemsworth, who plays a jewelry thief who has carried out a series of successful heists along the Pacific Coast Highway. Alongside Hemsworth is his Avengers co-star Mark Ruffalo, who portrays Lou Lubesnick, the determined LAPD detective willing to stop the thief by any means necessary.

The film is based on Don Winslow’s novella of the same name. Crime 101 expands on a cat-and-mouse game between thief and pursuer. Hemsworth’s character, Davis, is portrayed as a master strategist who has effortlessly pulled off a string of high-end robberies along California’s 101 Freeway — the inspiration behind the film’s title. Everything is going well until Ruffalo’s Lubesnick begins to connect the dots and closes in on the operation. Halle Berry plays the leading lady, Sharon, an insurance executive who becomes entangled in Davis’s finale — his most ambitious heist yet, one that quickly begins to spiral out of control.

The Hollywood Reporter highlights that the trailer teases a “stylish, character-driven cat-and-mouse thriller” with cracks of tension and seduction. The trailer focuses on the film’s ever-changing alliances and underlines the psychological battle of wits. While the film is centered around action-driven thrills, the trailer suggests that questions of morality and ethics will drive its emotional core — perhaps a narrative closer to Heat or Inside Man than a traditional blockbuster thriller.

The ensemble cast also includes Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Nick Nolte. With a star-studded cast, the film promises a polished performance. Directed by Layton and co-written with Peter Straughan, Crime 101 delves into the tolls of great ambition and the betrayal that comes with it.

Crime 101 is set for a U.S. theatrical release on February 13, 2026, with international distribution handled by Amazon MGM Studios.