The Vault

Madrid during the 2010 World Cup. Thom Johnson, an engineering student at Cambridge, is recruited by a salvage team after sunken treasure: they want into the vault of the Bank of Spain. The vault's secret is a pressure-operated scale mechanism, and the plan is to freeze it with liquid nitrogen. The job starts on the night when millions are watching the match. Jaume Balaguero directed. Freddie Highmore plays Thom, with Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Sam Riley and Liam Cunningham in the cast. It was made through multinational partnerships on a 15 million euro budget and went out in some territories as Way Down. It opened in Brazil and Taiwan in January 2021 and in Spain in November 2021, later reaching Netflix. Its 1.2 million euro Spanish opening was the best domestic debut of that year, and it took 9 million dollars worldwide. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 60 percent from 30 reviews, the consensus saying its slickly engineered thrills are dulled by familiarity. The ending hints at a sequel aimed at the Bank of England. Who it is for: viewers who like heist films and the pleasure of a technical plan. Who it is not for: anyone expecting novelty. The film runs every known step of the genre in order and departs from none of them.