Well, we officially have our worst movie of the fest, folks.
$POSITIONS (yes, the symbol is part of the title) is one of the most thoroughly unpleasant films I've had to sit through in some time. Newcomer Michael Kunicki stars as Mike, a perpetual screw-up who becomes addicted to riding the cryptocurrency wave. Foolishly dumping his meager savings into this scheme, he spends a good amount of the movie checking his phone and seeing how his fortune rises and falls. Unsurprisingly, he lives lavishly when the "coin" hits new highs, then sweats it out as it drops into the red.
The film tries to keep up a frenetic pace by constantly cutting to graphics of Mike's latest balance, but that's arguably more annoying than Mike himself. He's such a self-deluded idiot that it's impossible to root for him. In the film's second half, writer-director Brandon Daley tries to lay on the pathos, as Mike comes to regret being a bad brother, bad son, bad boyfriend, and bad confidant. But he had no charm, wit, or decency to begin with, so it falls flat. And all this emotion falls flat coming after scene in which Mike is tricked into drinking urine at a party. Trying to have it both ways comes off as gross.
Daley was clearly influenced by the Safdie Brothers and Adult Swim shows. Whether those do anything for you or not, it's easy to see this is just a pale imitation. It's not like there's anything else to wrap your arms around in this movie. None of the performances are especially bad, but aside from Mike's violent, drug-addicted cousin Travis (Trevor Dawkins), no one is a real character here. They're just another obstacle in Mike's way, or someone who sticks by his side despite all logic and reason.
Be smarter than Mike. The only bigger waste of your time than investing in cryptocurrency would be to watch this movie.
