When first appeared in , she announced herself as a show-stopper. Audiences everywhere were bewildered as to where and , the sibling duo who often cast non-professional actors, discovered this person making her film debut, and why she hadn't been utilized prior. Beyond her striking physical aura, Fox's volatile range captured the frantic energy of Uncut Gems' New York setting, her native city. As a celebrity and influencer figure in the NYC club scene, Fox always had other ambitions beyond acting.

Still, it was a shame that she seemed to have abandoned the trade after her breakthrough. Luckily, , who understands movie stars as well as anyone, This marks the second collaboration between Soderbergh and Fox, who previously left a brief but seismic impact on his overlooked crime caper, .

Steven Soderbergh, whether he's banding together the brightest stars in the world in or experimenting with non-professionals in , is an actor's director. It's no surprise that, even in his low-budget efforts, he consistently draws in the most illustrious cast of stars and sturdy character actors. Since his return to filmmaking, following his brief retirement in 2013, . No Sudden Move, released on HBO Max in 2021, features an all-star ensemble cast that was too overwhelming to ignore, including , , , , , , , and Julia Fox. Set in Detroit in 1954, the crime thriller follows a group of low-level criminals hired for a seemingly simple job. When their plan goes horribly wrong, their search for who hired them devolves into a chaotic nightmare.

Steven Soderbergh movies promise familiarity based on their genre and basic synopsis, but the director inevitably opts for something more cerebral and subversive, exemplified by the striptease hangout comedy secretly being a reflection of post-Recession malaise. No Sudden Move lures viewers with the prospect of a glorious return to the Ocean's Eleven realm, a star-driven, effortlessly cool crime caper, by Soderbergh. While the film, written by of Men in Black fame, provides these innate desires, its ambitions are far more profound. No Sudden Move, amid its tight plotting and slick caper vibes pulled right out of The Sting, finds time to ruminate over the oppressive nature of low-grade schemers being exploited by the criminal system, which poignantly mirrors the structure of capitalism.

Two years after Uncut Gems, Julia Fox returned to film as Vanessa Capelli, the mistress of Ronald Russo (del Toro), the main protagonist, alongside Curt Goynes (Cheadle). Fox's character in the Safdies' film, sharing her namesake, was so similar to her real-life persona that she initially believed the brothers wrote the character for her. Her knack for verisimilitude extends beyond Uncut Gems' Diamond District, as Fox is a natural in No Sudden Move's period setting, evoking the appearance of glamorous '50s stars like Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. Later, we learn she is the wife of Frank Capelli (Liotta), a mob boss who contracted the blackmail scheme that inspired the series of double-crossing, and suspects that Vanessa has not been faithful.

Initially, it seemed that Fox's role in No Sudden Move would be fairly inconsequential. After killing two notable characters and nearly getting away with a suitcase full of cash in the film's action-packed climax, Fox's turn proved to be more than just eye candy. A movie about the reversal of power and backstabbing was an ideal match for Soderbergh, a director who thrives off of Trojan horses. We think the plot is confined to these tricky schemers running off with an easy score, when, in reality, their motivations are futile against the predatory conspiracies of Detroit's auto manufacturing industry. The nature of Fox's character was to be resigned to the background, both in Russo and Capelli's lives. Vanessa matched the deception of her gangster counterparts, who were no match against the suffocating system. In a film where everyone bites the dust, Soderbergh finds some catharsis in Vanessa pulling herself up and drastically altering the course of events after being disregarded by everyone around her.

With Julia Fox starring in Steven Soderbergh's new ghost story, Presence, we can only hope she will be firmly placed in the director's vast stock company of actors, especially after her quiet but potent turn in No Sudden Move. At its premiere at Sundance in 2024, Fox admitted that she "hadn’t even read the script," before agreeing to be in Presence. "When Steven calls, I trust him blindly," she remarked, and can we blame her?

No Sudden Move is available to watch on Max in the U.S.

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