In the last few years, films about financial crimes have become even more popular than ever. The ramifications of the 2008 financial crisis continue to have a ripple effect on the film industry. Great cinema has often served as a way to answer questions that people may have about the crash itself and the aftermath of the generation-defining event.
It’s much easier to understand the minutiae of economics when watching an entertaining movie like The Big Short or The Wolf of Wall Street. However, the financial thriller seeks to electrify and entertain, throwing audiences into a world of chaos and crime where greed rules – and those who indulge it must pay the price. The best financial thrillers are thought-provoking and exhilarating, and these are among the finest examples.
8 ‘The Banker’ (2020)
While films like Margin Call or The Wolf of Wall Street sensationalize crimes committed by the upper class, The Banker celebrates the achievements of those who are marginalized. The true-life story explores the lives of Joe Morris (Samuel L. Jackson) and Bernard Garrett (Anthony Mackie), two Black bankers who helped fund their community with their system. To avoid persecution, Morris and Garrett enlisted the help of a white man (Nicholas Hoult) to publicly front their bank.
The controversy surrounding the film’s creative team should not discourage viewers from checking out this inspiring story. Elevated by Jackson and Mackie’s performances, The Banker is a worthy, if overly safe, film that will keep audiences enthralled and might even leave them inspired.
7 ‘Arbitrage’ (2012)
Nicholas Jarecki‘s 2012 thriller Arbitrage explores the uncomfortable truth that those with wealth simply live within a different reality than everyone else. The film follows the hedge fund manager Robert Miller (Richard Gere), who enlists the help of a fixer (Nate Parker) to bury a scandal that could threaten an impending business deal.
Gere isn’t often recognized as one of the industry’s best actors, but he’s rarely been better. Not many films can get an audience invested in such a genuinely unlikeable character, and Gere sells the performance with a charming yet unnerving turn. It’s a mesmerizing performance, perfectly complemented by the mighty Susan Sarandon.
6 ‘The Wizard of Lies’ (2017)
In an era where streaming services have dominated the film industry, the lines between a “theatrical picture” and a “television movie” are less clear. Regardless of its definition, Barry Levinson‘s 2017 HBO biopic The Wizard of Lies is an essential film about one of the scariest real financial crimes in recent history. Robert De Niro stars as Bernie Madoff, the investment advisor imprisoned for defrauding his clients in a Ponzi scheme. Michelle Pfeiffer co-stars as his elusive and disgraced wife, Ruth.
While De Niro has been known to “phone it in” for films like Dirty Grandpa, The Wizard of Lies is a reminder of why he’s one of the greatest actors of all time. Accompanied by an equally stellar Pfeiffer, De Niro leads a story of blind greed, guilt, and shamelessness, creating a monstrous and unrepentant portrayal that stands among his best.
5 ‘ L’Argent’ (1983)
Au Hasard Balthazar and A Man Escaped may be the best-known films of Robert Bresson‘s career. However, his 1983 Leo Tolstoy adaptation L’Argent is just as brilliant as those classics. The nonlinear film follows a forged banknote as it passes between different characters in contemporary France.
By showing what power a simple commodity has, Bresson exposes the infrastructural issues within the financial market. He creatively manages to adapt one of Tolstoy’s novellas that seemed inherently uncinematic on the page. Bresson’s commentary on the seductive nature of greed hasn’t aged a day, making L’Argenta hidden gem book adaptation worth the audience’s time.
4 ‘Cosmopolis’ (2012)
Cosmopolis was among the first films that proved to skeptics that Robert Pattinson could actually act. Anyone judging him based on his performances in The Twilight Saga is missing out on the career of one of the industry’s most exciting young actors. David Cronenberg‘s 2012 thriller Cosmopolis stars Pattinson as a wealthy young man who rides in a limousine as the streets are cluttered with protestors.
Considering the film takes place almost entirely within the limo’s confines, it’s impressive that Pattinson can hold the viewers’ attention. Furthermore, Cosmopolis excels as a clinical satire of the world’s current situation, presenting a chaotic yet thought-provoking examination of the dangers and unforgiving nature of capitalism.
3 ‘Dark Waters’ (2019)
Todd Haynes‘ early films showed his mastery of authentic emotional drama. However, Dark Waters revealed that Haynes could create something as thrilling and terrifying as Jaws. Few things are more unsettling than an unseeable, uncontrollable disease that can’t be cured. Dark Waters is based on the true story of Robert Bilott, played by the ever-reliable Mark Ruffalo, a lawyer for DuPont who exposed the company’s polluting of a West Virginia community with potentially lethal chemicals.
Although the film gets into a lot of legal and financial minutia surrounding the scandal, Ruffalo’s emotional performance shows how infuriating DuPont’s crimes are. Dark Waters successfully mixes financial and political elements with social commentary, resulting in a unique entry into the financial and political thriller genres.
2 ‘Wall Street’ (1987)
“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” Oliver Stone‘s 1987 drama Wall Street is about as straightforward as possible in depicting capitalism’s ethics. Michael Douglas delivers an Oscar-winning performance as Gordon Gekko, a character who captures the ruthless nature of wealthy stockbrokers. Gecko has some great comedic moments, but it’s hard not to cringe after each of his quips.
The film’s themes are just as relevant today as they were in the 1980s. The endless, pervasive, pernicious nature of greed and its dangers are the cornerstone of this thrilling picture. Stone returned to the world of Wall Street with his unfairly maligned 2010 legacy sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, which featured an older Gecko reflecting on how the world has changed after his imprisonment.
1 ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ (1992)
Glengarry Glen Ross is a masterpiece about corporate greed. Based on the eponymous Pulitzer Prize-winning play by David Mamet, James Foley’s 1992 drama explores the lives of various salesmen at a corporate office as they face potential termination.
The film generates empathy for characters like Sheldon Levene (Jack Lemmon) and Richard Roma (Al Pacino), who realize that everything they thought they could count on could disappear overnight. Meanwhile, Alec Baldwin‘s iconic “coffee is for closers” speech remains one of the greatest monologues in film history. More importantly, Glengarry Glen Ross is a painful reminder of how capitalism treats its most willing participants and a sobering wake-up call about the many financial dangers in the modern world.
