Dumb Money: Everything You Need to Know About the Netflix GameStop Movie

The film is accessible even to those who are not financial experts, thanks to a narrative that clearly explains complex concepts

Image Credit: Netflix

Dumb Money is a film that explores the surprising financial phenomenon linked to GameStop that shook Wall Street and the investment world. Directed by Craig Gillespie, known for works such as I, Tonya, the film tells the true story of how a group of retail investors, inspired by Keith Gill, challenged some of the largest financial entities in the world.

What film is Dumb Money based on?

The film is based on the book The Antisocial Network: The GameStop Short Squeeze by Ben Mezrich, and closely follows the events of 2020, when Keith Gill, played by Paul Dano, invested his savings in shares of GameStop, a failing video game store chain. Using a popular Reddit forum, Gill shared his insights and beliefs, engaging thousands of small investors. These retail investors, fascinated by the idea of ​​​​overturning the market logic, began buying GameStop shares, causing a significant increase in the price of the shares and creating enormous difficulties for the hedge funds that had bet against the company, such as Melvin Capital Management, portrayed in the film by Seth Rogen.

The film is accessible even to those who are not finance experts, thanks to a narrative that clearly explains complex concepts such as short selling. This strategy, often used by institutional investors, involves borrowing shares to sell them with the intent of buying them back at a lower price. In the case of GameStop, the rapid increase in the value of the shares forced these investors to cover their positions at much higher prices, generating significant losses.

In addition to Paul Dano and Seth Rogen, the cast includes Shailene Woodley as Gill’s wife, Pete Davidson as his brother, and actors such as America Ferrera, Myha’la Herrold, and Anthony Ramos, who play other retail investors involved in the purchase of GameStop shares. Other cast members include Nick Offerman, Vincent D’Onofrio, Talia Ryder, Sebastian Stan, Kate Burton and Clancy Brown.