Capitalism is great when you’re rich and the worst when you’re poor. Or, in the case of current economic insecurities in the U.S., middle class. Capitalism functions off the premise that trade and industry are better off when private owners of businesses determine what succeeds or fails, the idea that competition should ultimately even things out. Except, bug or feature, you decide, those who succeed are given a different set of rules to exist by. It’s why industries like finance, air transportation, automotive, and housing have received bail-outs from the U.S. government (viewed as a matter of keeping the country going — “too big to fail”) and the average citizen is left with the impossible task of lifting themselves by their bootstraps. It makes sense, then, that new forms of currency or valuation of property would come to be that might circumvent the usual centralized form of industry in favor of something else. Problem is, even the most well-intentioned new thing is still just a cog in the wheel of capitalism and is, therefore, subject to many of its same problems. Herein lies the inciting action for director Cutter Hodierne’s (Fishing Without Nets) new film Cold Wallet, which debuted during SXSW 2024. Armed with a simple premise, big ethical questions are asked and answered, though the depth and satisfaction one feels post watch may vary.
In hopes of making right past mistakes, Billy (Raúl Castillo) begins investing in cryptocurrency, believing it to be a pathway for investment success. However, when things go south with the specific bitcoin he’s put all his money in, it not only empties his and his friend Dom (Tony Cavalero), it puts them each in the negative. Contacted by fellow investor Eva (Melonie Diaz) who claims to have Hegel’s location, the three decide to confront the founder of the cryptocurrency, Hegel (Josh Brener). But what they think will be a simple conflict of right and wrong transforms into something far more ethically murky.
L-R: Tony Cavalero as Dom, Raúl Castillo as Billy, and Melonie Diaz as Eva in COLD WALLET. Photo courtesy of SXSW.
Be advised that *any* prior understanding of bitcoin and cryptocurrency is unnecessary in order to follow the story created by writer John Hibey and Hodierne. For the purposes of the narrative, the trio is a mixed knowledge base so that there is always an opportunity for exposition to serve the story without feeling like exposition. Don’t know what cryptocurrency is? Someone will ask. Wonder why the film is called Cold Wallet? It gets answered. What the film really comes down to is a conflict between the haves and the have-nots within a modern framework of digital currency, so while it will certainly help you to understand the jargon being tossed around, there’s no necessity to understand the finer points as all you need to know will be expressed at some point or another. While worth pointing this out, there will still be some who long to better understand rather than have it roll over them. This is not the film for you, then. For that, perhaps check out 2023’s Dumb Money whose true story is referenced *very* briefly by Billy at the start of this tale. In that film, filmmaker Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya; Cruella) makes a point to provide explanations for anything that might confuse or confound those outside of this specific financial sphere. It’s not that Hibey and Hodierne are disinterested in education, it’s that Cold Wallet isn’t structured the same or built with the same purpose as Gillespie’s film. Here, the financial sphere is the starting point to explore ideas of access, financial success, and greed.
The narrative is fairly-straightforward and, because of this, relies heavily on the cast to make the audience invested in what’s going on. This is a double-edged sword as the central cast of four do great work as living representatives of the various parties impacted by Hegel’s actions, but it also means that the film is fairly predictable in where that tension comes from. There’s our central figure Billy, infused by Castillo with a seething rage looking for direction, who knows just enough about cryptocurrency to think he knows everything thereby making him dangerous. By contrast, there’s loveable himbo Dom (afforded grace and devastating sincerity via Cavalero) whose brawn and kind heart make him vulnerable by presuming people won’t or can’t harm him and Redditor Eva (given an understandable laser-focus by Diaz) who knows more than them both and refuses to get caught in their bullshit despite being the one who set them all on this path. Then there’s Hegel (made far more despicable due to Brener’s oily performance) who recognizes his weakness and theirs so quickly that the chess match begins as soon as they breach his walls. The trio represent the serious trader (Eva), the dumb money (Billy), and the trusting fool (Dom), whereas Hegel is greed incarnate. Because of this, when Hegel tries striking deals to undermine the collective, it’s a move that the audience sees coming the moment any of the trio are alone with him, making any tension not of whether or not they’ll take any kind of deal, but waiting for the inevitable wearing down of group cohesion.
The strange thing is that this isn’t so much of a spoiler as it is heavily telegraphed in the script. First of all, when it’s 3-vs-1, that’s the only thing that can be done to even the odds and that’s playing on interpersonal tension. Well, it’s not the only thing and there’s a moment where it seems like Hibey and Hodierne lay groundwork for something truly screwed up, but nothing comes of it. Instead, the storytellers give us a situation in which guns are purchased to offset personal weakness, meaning that one’s going to get fired. It also means that the need to fire the gun is going to come from the person most likely to fire it, but least likely to understand the consequences. The one thing that the Cold Wallet really has going for it is the way in which the film as a whole utilizes a famous novel as a thematic foundation, dropping hints and teases as to the identity of said novel by masking them inside artistic pieces and other elements of supposed wealthy eccentricities. The problem, though, is that by the time the audience realizes it, they’re mostly being bludgeoned with it, reducing the subtext to text.
COLD WALLET director Cutter Hodierne. Photo courtesy of SXSW.
Cold Wallet is, ultimately, a home invasion thriller in which the “victim” is the true villain and there’s never a moment in which we view him as anything else. However, the methods by which the trio decide to go about their plan make them difficult to root for due to the haphazard way they go about it. It’s absolutely realistic in execution, but that harms the ability to believe any moment in which you think they may or may not get away with it because the ending seems like the only inevitability. Thankfully, the performances from the cast help keep the audience curious and holding, rather than cashing out early.
Screened during SXSW 2024.
In theaters and on digital February 28th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official SXSW Cold Wallet webpage.
Final Score: 3 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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