Guy Pearce and Hannah Waddingham Set for Usual Suspects-Style...

‘The Con is On’: Guy Pearce and Hannah Waddingham Set for Usual Suspects-Style Heist Thriller

CANNES — As the film world descends on the French Riviera for the annual Cannes Film Market, a high-stakes heist thriller has emerged as one of the most talked-about projects of the 2026 circuit.

Academy Award nominee Guy Pearce (The Brutalist, Memento) and Emmy-winner Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) have officially signed on to lead the cast of The Teller. Described by producers as a "labyrinthine" crime drama in the vein of the 1995 cult classic The Usual Suspects and Ben Affleck's The Town, the film promises a narrative driven by misdirection, complex cons, and a high-tension bank robbery.

The ‘Opening Move’ in a Bigger Game

Joining Pearce and Waddingham is Stephanie Hsu, the Oscar-nominated breakout star of Everything Everywhere All At Once. Hsu is set to play the titular "Teller," Violet, an overlooked bank worker in San Francisco who finds herself trapped in a dangerous criminal conspiracy.

The plot, penned by Ben Ripley (Source Code), who also makes his directorial debut, follows Violet as she is manipulated by a rogue FBI agent into robbing her own bank. However, as the film’s synopsis suggests, the heist is merely the "opening move" in a much larger, more sophisticated con that involves layers of betrayal and hidden identities.

“This isn’t your standard ‘smash and grab’ movie,” a production source told The Playlist at Cannes. “It’s about the psychological chess match behind the crime. Like The Usual Suspects, it’s designed to keep the audience questioning who is actually holding the cards until the very final frame.”

A Genre Masterclass

For Guy Pearce, the project marks a return to the gritty, intellectual crime genre that defined his early career in L.A. Confidential and Memento. Fresh off his recent Best Supporting Actor nomination for The Brutalist, Pearce is reportedly playing a pivotal role that anchors the film’s central mystery.

Waddingham, meanwhile, continues her streak of major film roles following her hosting turn on Saturday Night Live UK earlier this month. While her specific character details remain under wraps, she is expected to play a high-ranking operative within the criminal underworld.

The Teller – Project Snapshot

Cannes Buzz and UK Production

International sales are being handled by Altitude, with the project already attracting significant interest from global distributors. Despite being set in the hills of San Francisco, the film is a UK/Irish co-production and is scheduled to begin principal photography in Northern Ireland this autumn.

The region has become an increasingly popular hub for high-end crime thrillers, offering the gritty urban backdrops required for Ripley’s "San Francisco noir" aesthetic.

The Verdict

With a cast that balances seasoned prestige (Pearce) with modern star power (Hsu and Waddingham), The Teller is being positioned as a rare "smart" thriller in a market often dominated by mindless action. If Ripley can capture the same lightning in a bottle as his sci-fi hit Source Code, audiences could be looking at the next great puzzle-box of the crime genre.

As they say in the classics: The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. In The Teller, it seems the greatest trick is yet to be revealed.