Craig Gillespie’s latest, “Dumb Money” (2023), has strains in it reminiscent of the Oscar-winning “The Big Short.” The director clearly seems to be channeling some of the energy from Adam McKay’s film. It’s brisk and has oodles of verve in its telling. There’s a kinetic jumpiness that seeks to mirror the chaos of the world, specifically the online universe that’s at the heart of the narrative. Based on Ben Mezrich’s non-fiction book, “The Antisocial Network,” it concerns events plucked from headlines that are only a few years old. It is a story about risk-taking, which aims to take on the system and outdo the structures engineered to favor the rich and elite. The ambition and audacity of the protagonist, Keith Gill (Paul Dano), empowers and emboldens other small-time dreamers to leap.
Dumb Money (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Keith Gill, a thirtysomething, is a financial analyst whose hobby finds him donning an online avatar and ferreting stock tips on YouTube and Reddit. He is popularly known as Roaring Kitty. He invests the bulk of his life savings into stock for GameStop, a video game store, because the Wall Street honchos have bet on its collapse. Various global hedge funds cement their fortunes from the failure of companies.
Despite being dissuaded from such a risky move, he is bullish about his decision to back GameStop. This inspires many in the country to take his purportedly reckless advice, all of whom are convinced the system is built to pull them down. It is a diverse mix, including nurse Jennifer (America Ferrara), college students Riri (Myha’la Herrold) and Harmony (Talia Ryder), and GameStop clerk Marcus (Anthony Ramos). As Gill persuades his followers to buy the stock of GameStop, its price shoots up.
What causes the alarm among the Wall Streeters?
Keith’s bets work, propelled by thousands following his call. He begins to make millions and yet doesn’t sell. The billionaires who bet against the stock lose, including leading hedge fund CEOs Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen), Steve Cohen (Vincent D’Onofrio), and Ken Griffin (Nick Offerman). Keith weaponizes the short-selling the hedge funds have been doing for GameStop. He primes GameStop as the conduit of people’s hopes and aspirations that can weather the weight and opposition of biggies. He effectively builds a growing public enthusiasm for the stock, orchestrating a short squeeze.
Therefore the stock takes off to stratospheric levels. Plotkin, who had bet against GameStop, isn’t initially rattled. He is confident Gill and his army of followers will pull out. But things don’t transpire according to his wishes. He realizes he has undermined them. Plotkin’s firm, Melvin Capital, is eventually pushed into a position of bankruptcy. As he starts losing billions, Gill earns millions and his followers too pick up exponentially.
Also, Read: The 10 Best Movies About Money, Finance, and Wall Street
They draw vigor and belief from the fact he holds the stocks and chooses not to sell. The nurse is repeatedly insisted on by her colleague to sell her stock and pay off the mortgage, but she opts not to. The two college students are in a dilemma as well. They, too, decide on holding the stock. Roaring Kitty’s followers declare themselves to be ‘diamond hands,’ meaning they do not sell.
Gill’s parents reiterate the natural suggestion that he should sell when he has millions. Only his wife, Caroline (Shailene Woodley) continues to support him in his decision, reaffirming it’s something he’s been at for the past year and therefore he must be knowing what’s best. Since the billionaires find themselves in a tight corner, Plotkin reaches out to other funders to invest in Melvin and re-energize the sinking firm. The hedge fund owners get a day trading company, Robinhood, spearheaded by Vlad Tenev (Sebastian Stan), to stop stock trading. This leads to a Congressional hearing where major players are asked to explain what happened.
Dumb Money (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
What happened to Keith Gill?
At the hearing, Gill holds his ground. The aim of the hearing was to figure out how GameStop’s stocks soared, to impede any future possibility of similarities, and to check if there had been any cheating or manipulation involved. Ken Griffin asserted that his Citadel and Robinhood had no discussion relating to stopping trading. Lawsuits against both companies were eventually dropped. Despite his losses, Gill stated that he likes the stock. This statement endeared him further to his masses, who rallied behind him. Despite the high possibility of being able to earn millions if he sold the stock after the hearing, Gill opts to buy more. “Dumb Money” doesn’t comment on Gill’s current position. But does state that his net worth shot up by around thirty-three million from the initial figure presented. The GameStop clerk eventually chose to sell half his stock and had an exponential rise in net worth.
Dumb Money (2023) Movie Themes Explained:
War of the haves and have-nots
The screenplay by Lauren Schucker Blum and Rebecca Angelo underlines the flaws in the architecture of the system and the cracks in the folds of institutions which the down-and-out use to their advantage. The people rallying behind Gill are aware of their puny status but do not allow that to limit them. Gill gives them the impetus that they can effectively create holes in the system that they can bend to suit their will. Even if it is a one-off thing, the sheer force of the endeavor frazzles the billionaires who are sure of their success. The people equate their movement to Occupy Wall Street. While some of this is misplaced in its positioning, it is a testament to the will force and the strength of the lower echelons who can mobilize and outdo structures that are determined to crunch them to defeat.
The film keeps its tone light and sunny, chary enough not to deal with its themes with any heavy-handedness. Gillespie has his eye on the playful one-upmanship between warring echelons, especially at the precise point when a historically repressed section breaks through to prove with zeal and conviction that it can still challenge and rupture the system. Even if victory is fleeting, the fact it actualized is sufficient to drive them along for a fresh set of risks.
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