You’ve probably seen the clips on social media. A slick-looking Will Smith standing in a crowded street, explaining how the human brain can’t multitask, while a young Margot Robbie systematically cleans out the pockets of every tourist in sight. It’s stylish. It’s fast. Honestly, it’s one of those movies that makes you want to check your own wallet just for watching it. But if you’ve actually sat through the 2015 film Focus, you know the plot gets a lot more tangled than just simple street theft.
What is the Focus movie about at its core? Basically, it’s a high-stakes romance wrapped in a layers-of-the-onion con job. It follows Nicky Spurgeon (Smith), a third-generation con artist who runs a massive, well-oiled machine of "whiz mobs"—teams of pickpockets who hit major events like the Super Bowl to make millions in small, untraceable increments. Enter Jess (Robbie), a "small-time" grifter who tries to con Nicky and fails miserably. Instead of turning her in, he takes her under his wing, and the two end up in a complicated dance of "who is scamming who?"
The "55" Gamble: How the Super Bowl Con Actually Worked
The scene everyone remembers—and the one that usually sparks the most debate—is the high-stakes betting sequence in New Orleans. Nicky and Jess are sitting in a luxury box when Nicky starts making increasingly insane bets with a billionaire named Liyuan Tse. It looks like Nicky has lost his mind. He bets their entire "haul" for the week on a single, impossible guess: Jess has to pick a random player on the field, and Liyuan has to guess the number.
It feels like a suicide mission for their bank account. But it wasn't.
The whole thing was a "long con" that started long before they even sat down. Throughout the day, Nicky’s team had been "priming" Liyuan. They planted the number 55 everywhere he looked—on posters, in the lobby, even on the lapels of people he walked past. By the time he had to "randomly" pick a number, his subconscious was already screaming "55." And the player Jess "picked"? That was Farhad, one of Nicky’s own crew members, wearing a fake jersey. It wasn’t luck; it was psychological warfare.
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That Three-Year Time Jump in Buenos Aires
About halfway through, the movie pulls a fast one. Nicky leaves Jess at an airport with her share of the money and vanishes. Fast forward three years to Buenos Aires. Nicky is working a new job for a billionaire race car team owner named Garriga (Rodrigo Santoro). The goal is to sell a fake "fuel algorithm" to a rival team.
Then, Jess walks in. She’s on Garriga’s arm.
This is where the movie shifts from a "heist" flick into a psychological drama. Nicky is thrown off his game, which is the one thing a con man can’t afford. He’s trying to sell a fake algorithm to one person while selling the real one to everyone else behind Garriga’s back. It’s a mess. You’re constantly wondering if Jess is actually in love with Garriga, or if she’s pulling a "long con" on Nicky as revenge for him dumping her in New Orleans.
The Ending: Who Is Owens and What Really Happened?
The finale is where most people get a bit dizzy. Nicky and Jess get caught by Garriga’s head of security, Owens (played by Gerald McRaney). Things look bleak. Nicky gets shot in the chest.
Then comes the twist: Owens is actually Nicky’s father, Bucky.
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The shooting was a "Toledo Panic Button"—a trick where you shoot someone in a very specific spot in the chest (the "sweet spot") to make it look fatal while allowing the person to survive. Bucky did it to "save" Nicky by making Garriga think the situation was over so he would leave. Bucky then makes off with the millions, leaving Nicky and Jess with nothing but a stolen watch Jess managed to swipe off Garriga’s wrist during the chaos.
Real-World Scams: Is the Movie Accurate?
One reason Focus feels so grounded despite the Hollywood gloss is that the directors hired Apollo Robbins as a consultant. Robbins is a world-renowned sleight-of-hand expert—the guy actually once pickpocketed Jimmy Carter’s Secret Service agents.
He taught Will Smith and Margot Robbie the "psychology of the steal." This isn't just about fast fingers. It’s about "guilty knowledge" and "attention management." If I touch your shoulder, your brain focuses on that sensation, making it easier for me to lift your watch from the other hand. The movie does a killer job of showing how these "wire mobs" operate in the real world, using distraction as their primary weapon.
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Why Focus Still Hits the Mark Today
Even years after its release, Focus is a staple for movie marathons. Why?
- The Chemistry: Honestly, the spark between Smith and Robbie is undeniable. It’s what makes you care about the con.
- The Locations: New Orleans and Buenos Aires look stunning. It’s pure escapist cinema.
- The Nuance: It acknowledges that in the world of professional liars, love is the ultimate "tell."
If you're looking to dive deeper into the world of grifters, your next step should be checking out some of Apollo Robbins' actual demonstrations on YouTube; seeing the "Focus" techniques performed in real life by the man who taught the actors is arguably more mind-blowing than the movie itself.