Garnering rave reviews upon its US release, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" is a riveting suspense thriller directed by Sidney Lumet, with outstanding performances from a cast that includes Academy Award winners Philip Seymour Hoffman and Marisa Tomei and Academy Award nominees Ethan Hawke and Albert Finney.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead belongs beside such Lumet classics as "12 Angry Men", "Network", "The Verdict", "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Serpico". Truly one of the world's most intriguing directors, from the unexpectedly graphic opening shot Lumet proves he hasn't lost any of his bite with age.

Working from an intense, expertly woven script by playwright-turned-screenwriter Kelly Masterson, the story follows a New York family with an undercurrent of dysfunction. Philip Seymour Hoffman is Andy, a frustrated, drug-abusing stockbroker who is unable to satisfy his gorgeous wife. Ethan Hawke is Hank, a passive man who struggles to make alimony payments, and Marisa Tomei is Andy's wife (and Hanks' lover). Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris play the brother's parents, who operate a small jewellery store. All of their lives begin to unravel when Andy approaches Hank about pulling off a heist that will seemingly solve all of their monetary problems. Everything about the idea is risky, yet Andy convinces his timid younger brother that this is his only way out of his current situation. Naturally, their plan falls apart, resulting in a series of tragedies that they never could have predicted.