Summary

• Ocean's 8 delivers shocking twists in the heist story, with unexpected connections and intricate details.
• The all-female team pulls off a complex heist at the Met Gala, intertwining revenge with the theft.
• Daphne Kluger's unexpected role as both mark and member adds a surprising dynamic to Ocean's 8's ending.

It wouldn't be an Ocean's movie without a twist, and the ending of Ocean's 8 certainly delivers some shocks. In the reboot of the franchise, Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) assembles an all-star team of seven women to steal a $150 million diamond necklace from the Met Gala. Of course, like all the other films in the Ocean's franchise, the Ocean's 8 heist includes some surprises. Ocean's 8 sets up what appears to be a rather simple heist story centered on the eclectic characters for most of the film, but what's really going on underneath digs deeper.

Ocean's 8 comes with several shocking twists and turns by the time the ending arrives. There's the question of the unmentioned eighth member from the title, the actual target of the heist, and, of course, the big connection all the way back to Ocean's 11. Ocean's 8's twist ending may not be as violent a rug-pull as Ocean's 11 (or as ridiculous as the Julia-Roberts-as-Julia-Roberts trick of Ocean's 12), but there are still a lot of threaded intricacies to the heist and its payoff that require a deeper dive.

Ocean's 8's Heist Explained

The All-Female Ocean's Team Need To Steal The Jeanne Toussaint Necklace

The team in Ocean's 8 plan their heist to steal Cartier's "Jeanne Toussaint" diamond necklace, a task that requires very specific skills. Debbie first shares her plans with her partner Lou (Cate Blanchett), and together they gather a team of five more specialists. Because the necklace is usually stored in a below-ground vault, Debbie and Lou enlist a fashion designer, Rose Weil (Helena Bonham Carter), to create a Met Gala look for actress Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway).

Rose convinces Cartier to let the diamonds out of the vault for the Met Gala, and she scans the jewels so that they can create a replica. Meanwhile, a hacker named Nine Ball (Rihanna) hacks into the Met Gala security cameras and creates a blind spot outside of the bathrooms. Tammy (Sarah Paulson) takes a job at Vogue that gives her insider access to the Met Gala planning, convincing her boss to hire additional catering staff, which allows the team to enter the Gala undetected.

The heist in Ocean's 8, as it turns out, isn't just about the money: it's also about revenge. Debbie Ocean wants to get back at her ex-boyfriend, Claude Becker (Richard Armitage), who threw her under the bus after a scam gone wrong. As a result, Debbie has spent the last five years in jail planning the perfect heist. Ocean orchestrates a meeting between Kluger and Becker so that he will accompany Kluger to the Met Gala; Becker becomes the perfect "fall guy" who Debbie and her team frame for stealing the diamonds.

How The Team Pull The Heist Off In Ocean's 8

Their Plan Is Incredibly Intricate

On the night of the Met Gala, when Daphne puts the necklace on, Rose discovers that they need a special magnet to unlock the necklace. She sends a video of the magnet locking necklace to the team, and Nine Ball calls in her sister to create a key for them. Lou works as part of the catering staff, serving Daphne soup that makes her nauseous. Daphne runs to the bathroom, and while she throws up, Constance (Awkwafina), the team's pickpocket, removes the necklace.

Stepping into the blindspot that Nine Ball created, Constance stows the necklace on a serving tray carried by an unsuspecting busboy; the server unknowingly carries it to the kitchen, where Amita (Mindy Kaling), the jeweler, picks it up. Amita works to deconstruct the necklace, and after a brief security scare in which the guests are evacuated, Tammy "finds" the replica. Security returns to normal, and the team is able to leave the Met undetected.

Debbie takes some diamonds from the necklace and places them on Becker. By the time that Cartier realizes that the replica is a fake, the team has already gotten away with the diamonds and hired four different elderly women to sell pieces of the jewels. John Frazier (James Corden) is brought in by the insurance company to locate the necklace, but there seems to be no solid evidence that he can use against Debbie and her team.

The Ocean's 8 Daphne Kluger Twist Explained

The Mark Becomes An Essential Team Member

Daphne Kluger was the mark, and by all accounts, she was set up to be the villain. She is a needy and vain starlet who doesn't seem to be paying attention to anyone but herself. However, Kluger unexpectedly joins forces with Ocean's team. When Rose sends a video of the necklace's magnet lock to the team, Kluger notices and becomes suspicious. A professional actress, she also is able to spot several members of Ocean's team lying. This is all circumstantial evidence, but Kluger could have been able to bring the team down.

Daphne embraces her newfound role, arranging a romantic rendezvous with Becker to frame him.

However, when she is questioned by Frazier, she doesn't turn in Rose or the others. Instead, when asked if she recognizes Debbie Ocean, Kluger lies, and later she reaches out to Ocean, saying that she wants in. While Kluger is not involved in the initial heist, her silence would be enough to make her a part of the team. But Daphne embraces her newfound role, arranging a romantic rendezvous with Becker to frame him.

With Becker handcuffed to the bed in the other room, she finds the diamonds that Debbie stowed in his jacket pocket and photographs them in his apartment, giving Frazier the evidence he needs for a warrant. Kluger could have easily been written off as a spoiled brat, but instead, she ends up being the one person that Debbie Ocean underestimates. Kluger is more than happy, however, to join Ocean's crew and pick up a big payday.

The Ninth Member In Ocean's 8 Explained

Yen Returns from Danny Ocean's Crew

As it turns out, Debbie and Lou had their sights set on more than the Cartier necklace, as there are a lot more jewels in the exhibit. Earlier in the film, Daphne leads a camera crew through this section of the exhibit, teasing what will be on display during the Met Gala, but it's easy to write this scene off until it becomes key information later on. The biggest clue was an additional layer to the heist was a brief scene when Cate Blanchett's Lou picks up a motorized toy submarine, and the ending reveals the full extent of the scheme.

When the security evacuate guests, Lou and Yen, the Chinese acrobat (from the original Ocean's 11 crew), sneak into the exhibit and steal the jewelry on display. Yen climbs above the display and suspends down, dodging the lasers that would tip off security. He gathers the jewels and places them in a bag. The base of the display is water, and so he attaches the bag to the motorized toy submarine for Lou to pick up. Lou then sends replica jewels back to Yen, who places them on display before security returns. Then, Lou drives off with Yen in a catering van, and the Met is none the wiser.

How Ocean's 8's Ending Compares To The Trilogy

The Most Recent Ocean's Heist Did One Key Thing Much Better

Ocean's 8 released in 2018 and is the most recent entry to the franchise. While each movie has its own merits, there are naturally comparisons to be made, especially when it comes to the ending. Overall, Ocean's 8 isn't considered the best Ocean's movie so far, but it's also not the worst either. It didn't quite reach the heights of 2007's Ocean's 13 or 2001's Ocean's 11, though it was a marked improvement on 2004's Ocean's 12.

One thing that Ocean's 8 did do particularly well compared to its counterparts was the twists. This is especially true for Anne Hathaway's Daphne. The development of her going from being the mark to helping Ocean's team was an incredibly unexpected moment, though one that felt completely natural. Like most heist movies, every Ocean's film has a few twists and turns, but none felt quite as inspired.

Where Ocean's 8 didn't quite live up to some other franchise entries wasn't the ending per se, nor was it because it was a bad heist movie. It's more that the two movies that surpass it in the eyes of many fans, Ocean's 11 and Ocean's 13, are simply hard to top. This is partly because of the Las Vegas setting, as robbing casinos allows for some incredibly gripping and unique moments that can't be imitated with any other scenario. The jewel theft in Ocean's 8 was exciting but nowhere near as unique — though it was certainly better than the overcomplicated cluster of European heists in Ocean's 12.