I only got interested in this movie because I like the actor John Bradley who plays Samwell Tarly in "Game of Thrones". The movie has an intriguing thriller premise that can't help but make one want to see how it continues when one has begun. "Ordinary" people and small business people who lost their jobs after inflation and find their existence in a bit of a pickle, participate in a "trading" scheme where they bet all their money in very straightforward, undramatic duels for their lives at remote spots where each time they dig one grave in advance.
The tone is relatively realistic as one would expect from the milieu of small-town business men, so that one could almost expect it to be a normal "drama" plot surrounding office workers, with John Bradley's Vernon Stynes - who came up with the scheme and its rules and put it up on the Dark Web - at first almost seeming like he could drop in at The Office for a moment. As one can realize afterwards, this is part of the characterization, with subtle hints about psychopathy (with not at all subtle consequences) and the stereotype about business men and psychopathy (mentioned casually). After all, the title itself is an euphemism, and the tale is clearly a parable about market crashes.
The narrative is relatively straightforward and never goes beyond this "realistic" tone, though it is relatively entertaining and intriguing. However there are some issues with the narrative, which are not altogether hard to guess at. It is not believable that people would see this trade as a good deal, and have as little hesitation and fear - even doubt - as displayed. The main characters undergo some development in that regard at first, especially the protagonist and narrator Harry Fox, who later becomes really good at it (whereas John Bradley as Vernon Stynes is predictably weaker and for most of the movie bedridden after their first half-canceled attempt), however the topic of fear and hesitation is discarded pretty quickly.
Once the trading scheme gets going pretty well, there is only one time when a character starts having fear, which is overcome by desperation. And while there is a rule that a participant has to write a suicide letter to avert basic suspicion, it is implausible that the police wouldn't become suspicious after a while (especially since all the people simply go missing, and the letters are probably bullshit) or that it wouldn't become aware of the existence of the scheme in the Dark Web or that word wouldn't trickle out.
Due to psychological themes playing such a small role, and the story being as straightforward as it is, without social, psychological, investigative plausibility providing some complication, it remains as a "small" though relatively entertaining movie. I might give it 6.5 points, but round down rather than up due to its off-putting nature.
The tone is relatively realistic as one would expect from the milieu of small-town business men, so that one could almost expect it to be a normal "drama" plot surrounding office workers, with John Bradley's Vernon Stynes - who came up with the scheme and its rules and put it up on the Dark Web - at first almost seeming like he could drop in at The Office for a moment. As one can realize afterwards, this is part of the characterization, with subtle hints about psychopathy (with not at all subtle consequences) and the stereotype about business men and psychopathy (mentioned casually). After all, the title itself is an euphemism, and the tale is clearly a parable about market crashes.
The narrative is relatively straightforward and never goes beyond this "realistic" tone, though it is relatively entertaining and intriguing. However there are some issues with the narrative, which are not altogether hard to guess at. It is not believable that people would see this trade as a good deal, and have as little hesitation and fear - even doubt - as displayed. The main characters undergo some development in that regard at first, especially the protagonist and narrator Harry Fox, who later becomes really good at it (whereas John Bradley as Vernon Stynes is predictably weaker and for most of the movie bedridden after their first half-canceled attempt), however the topic of fear and hesitation is discarded pretty quickly.
Once the trading scheme gets going pretty well, there is only one time when a character starts having fear, which is overcome by desperation. And while there is a rule that a participant has to write a suicide letter to avert basic suspicion, it is implausible that the police wouldn't become suspicious after a while (especially since all the people simply go missing, and the letters are probably bullshit) or that it wouldn't become aware of the existence of the scheme in the Dark Web or that word wouldn't trickle out.
Due to psychological themes playing such a small role, and the story being as straightforward as it is, without social, psychological, investigative plausibility providing some complication, it remains as a "small" though relatively entertaining movie. I might give it 6.5 points, but round down rather than up due to its off-putting nature.