The action takes place in 1956 and is centered around the clothing made-to-order outfitters owned by Rylance’s Leonard, a mild-mannered tailor, or “cutter” as he clarifies, from London’s Savile Row. A pure craftsman, tailoring each suit with love and care, Leonard works alone, with just his young secretary Mable (Zoey Deutch) for company.
Along the way, he has befriended Roy Boyle (Simon Russell Beale), the local bigwig gangster who, according to Leonard, was his very first customer when he opened his shop in Chicago. Now the mob use his establishment as a drop box for mysterious packages.
Leonard asks no questions – “I just don’t want to be involved,” he yelps at one point – but it might be too late for that. “Like it or not, you’re part of the family,” remarks Francis (Johnny Flynn), a trigger-happy but trusted lieutenant to Roy.
A turf war with a rival gang is escalating, and to make matters worse, Roy’s boys believe there’s a rat in their midst. Then Francis and Richie (Dylan O’Brien), Roy’s cocky son, pick up a message in Leonard’s shop from the Outfit.
Originally begun by the late, legendary gangster Al Capone, the Outfit has now become a nationwide crime network. It seems like it might be time for Boyle’s crew to join up, but first they need to flush out that rat, who they think is feeding information to the FBI.
There are a lot more surprises to The Outfit, with double-crosses escalating in the film’s tense, bloody second half. Characters come with hidden motives.
Directed by
Cast (in credits order)
| Mark Rylance | … | Leonard | |
| Zoey Deutch | … | Mable | |
| Dylan O’Brien | … | Richie | |
| Johnny Flynn | … | Francis | |
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Nikki Amuka-Bird | … | Violet | |
| Simon Russell Beale | … | Roy | |
| Alan Mehdizadeh | … | Monk |
Produced by
| Ben Browning | … | producer |
| Alison Cohen | … | executive producer |
| Ashley Fox | … | executive producer |
| Nell Green | … | co-producer |
| Amy Jackson | … | producer |
| Johnathan McClain | … | executive producer |
| Milan Popelka | … | executive producer |
| Elizabeth Siegal | … | co-producer |
| Scoop Wasserstein | … | producer |
| David Zimmerman | … | executive producer |
