1 of 5 | Paul Dano stars in “Dumb Money.” Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8 (UPI) — Dumb Money, a thought-provoking drama, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. It provides insights into the corrupt nature of our financial institutions. While not reaching the heights of The Big Short, it effectively simplifies complexity and raises pertinent questions.
The story revolves around Keith Gill (Paul Dano), a former analyst at MassMutual, who discovered that GameStop stock was undervalued at less than $4 per share. Keith, through his YouTube show, shared his faith in the video game retailer and invested in it. A significant number of his followers followed suit and the stock price began to surge.
Keith’s journey intertwines with various characters associated with GameStop stock. Gabe Plotnik (Seth Rogen), the CEO of the Melvin Capital hedge fund, had been shorting GameStop since 2014. Jenny Campbell (America Ferrera), an ER nurse, invests in hopes of escaping poverty, while Marcos Garcia (Anthony Ramos), an employee at a Detroit GameStop, decides to jump in.
Harmony Williams (Talia Ryder) and Riri Pariseau (Myha’la Herrold), University of Texas at Austin students, highlight the moral dilemma. As Harmony points out, when the value depends on how many people buy in, it resembles a pyramid scheme. The movie delves into these issues as new characters introduce fresh concepts.
The GameStop investors are driven by a sense of injustice, as they believe shorting exploits a company’s failure. They refuse to sell, even when offered six-figure profits, in order to prevent Wall Street from devouring GameStop.
The emergence of online stock trading platforms plays a significant role in the GameStop saga. These platforms allow individuals, who couldn’t previously afford brokers, to freely buy and sell stocks. The film depicts Robinhood CEOs Vlad Tenev (Sebastian Stan) and Baiju Bhatt (Rushi Kota), hinting at potential conflicts of interest.
The film explores why the investors didn’t sell when the stock skyrocketed. Rather than seeking more money, their collective decision stems from a moral imperative to protect GameStop. Furthermore, the movie suggests that the entire system is designed to prevent investors from claiming their profits.
The film depicts the Reddit board, where investors shared information, being reported and shut down, while Robinhood suspended the option to buy more GameStop stock. Ultimately, the movie raises questions about the actual financial plan of GameStop and whether making millions purely based on stock value is justified.
Despite some creative liberties taken with the representation of YouTube/TikTok/Reddit culture, the film effectively balances informative and dramatic scenes. For those unfamiliar with the GameStop story and investing in general, Dumb Money offers valuable insights. For avid stock enthusiasts, the movie provokes further discussion.
Dumb Money is set to release in theaters on Sept. 29.
Fred Topel, a film school graduate from Ithaca College and a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles, has been a professional film critic since 1999. He has been a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001 and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
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