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From the 2008 financial crisis to the COVID-led stock market crash in March 2020, Wall Street investors and traders have witnessed extraordinary circumstances in the past two decades. And while people dealt with that, Hollywood filmmakers worked on capturing such financial crises on the cinema screen.
Let’s take a look at five Hollywood movies that take you on a virtual ride through the world of stocks and trading. Beware, there are spoilers ahead!
American Psycho (2000)
American Psycho’s story begins in the late 1980s, with a young Wall Streeter who has limited knowledge of stocks and bonds.
Christian Bale is a wealthy investment banker in New York by day in the movie, who slips into the role of a serial killer by night. How and why he gets there is something you will have to unravel after watching the movie.
2. Boiler Room (2000)
The film revolves around young Seth Davis, played by actor Giovanni Ribisi, who runs an illegal casino at his rented flat. The protagonist gets a chance to become an investment broker and make millions, but he has no idea what is coming his way.
As Davis starts his career at Wall Street, a few encounters lead him to question the legitimacy of the brokerage’s operations.
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3. Margin Call (2011)
Margin Call focuses on the night before the 2007-2008 financial crisis collapses on the Wall Street.
It depicts how, based on evidence from speculative investigations, one organization after another had to announce bankruptcy, leaving the core financial system in jeopardy.
4. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
The famous Leonardo DiCaprio movie starts in the early 1990s, where Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) partners with Donny Azoff (Jonah Hill) and begins their brokerage firm, Stratton Oakmont.
The firm expands rapidly from an employer of 20 to a workforce of over 250 people, and they develop a good reputation among Wall Street’s analysts and investors. Even privately-owned companies start filing their initial public offerings (IPOs) through their firm. Then, however, begins a game of manipulation and abuse of power, which eventually leads Belfort to the cover of Forbes Magazine, titled "The Wolf Of Wall St" and an FBI investigation.
5. The Big Short (2015)
This movie takes you through the mortgage housing crisis of 2005 in the US. Michael Burry (Christian Bale), an ex-physician-turned-hedge fund manager, believes that the US housing market is witnessing a housing bubble that will burst in the next few years. As he starts betting against the mortgage market based on his speculations, the story unravels.
Which of these financial world-inspired have you watched? Let us know.
