Dumb Money: probably a dumb choice of film for most Christian teens

The Film: Dumb Money

Rating: 15

Watch if you liked: The Big Short, Social Network

Running time: 104 minutes

Genre: Biography, Comedy

Overview: Based on the true story of how YouTuber and Redditor Keith Gill convinced thousands of people to bet against Wall Street and invest in GameStop. But does his gamble pay off and what will it cost him?

What you liked:

There’s some great performances in this and the cast draw you in to each of the individual storylines. You feel invested in the personal stakes of each character (pun very much intended) and there’s an underlying tension that plays well. I very much had low level anxiety throughout knowing that the characters could lose all they had invested in stocks - especially those who had put all their money in to the cause.

What you didn’t like:

I’m surprised upon writing this review that the runtime is so short in comparison to how long the film felt… It didn’t necessarily drag but I don’t think it fully held my attention all the way through.

I don’t think the film really explained what was going on for those new to the subject - I have no idea about the stock market and I’m not sure I could tell you much more now compared to when I walked in.

The film isn’t bad but it’s not very memorable either, despite it’s attempt to appeal to a short attention span audience. As the movement was heavily supported and influenced by TikTok-ers this makes sense - lots of modern music and quick cuts. I’m not on TikTok myself so I didn’t find this very appealing but maybe it will appeal more to a teenage audience. Having said that, my screening was attended by myself and late middle-aged couples, so perhaps the film didn’t reach it’s target audience or the target audience wasn’t who the studios thought it would be.