The Greatest Films That Roast Revenue Inequality
Hollywood has a long fascination with exploring the lifestyles of the rich and famous, as it’s fertile ground for exciting, epic storytelling. During Hollywood’s golden age, many classic films offered a window into that opulent world that the average audience would never enjoy.
But in the last few decades, the film industry has taken a more critical eye on that elusive group that hoards their wealth from the rest of us. With many headlines bemoaning the extreme income inequality reshaping society, the movies now reflect the resentment of the outsiders who want to join that exclusive club or tear it all down trying.
From the French Revolution to Occupy Wall Street, these income inequality films embody the 18th-century phrase “eat the rich.”
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
The original “Robin Hood” myth recounts the tale of a green-clad archer who stole from the rich to give to the poor in 15th-century England. As the OG class inequality warrior, Hollywood has produced close to a dozen film adaptions, making it one of the most remade properties of all time.
But the best and most popular iteration remains the lavish The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Despite the “eat the rich” undercurrent, Hollywood intended the merry archer legend as an energetic, high-flying adventure. The 1938 Technicolor extravaganza perfectly captures that tone, featuring Errol Flynn in one of his most swashbuckling roles.
The Menu (2022)
The Menu takes the “eat the rich” term from metaphorical to the near literal in this perfectly titled black comedy. The story follows a young couple who travel to a remote island where a famous chef has prepared an extravagant five-star meal for an exclusive group of power players. But as each dish is served, the chef reveals sinister plans for his elite guests.
The Menu features a razor-sharp script blending horror and social satire that keeps audiences guessing what’s next on “the menu.” Ana Taylor-Joy gives a standout performance as a secret “have not” guest that thwarts Ralph Fiennes chef’s deadly plans. The scenes between these two actors are a joy to watch, especially the finale, where Taylor-Joy literally turns the table on her psychotic captor.
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Many feature films tell the tale of outsiders who lie, cheat, and steal to ingratiate themselves into the world of the wealthy elite. The recent Saltburn explored such a premise. But the best version of that story was the gorgeous, lushly filmed The Talented Mr. Ripley, starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Cate Blanchett.
The 1950s-set picture chronicles the exploits of Tom Ripley, a gay grifter who deceives his way into the circle of rich party boy Dickie Greenleaf. But Ripley’s obsession with Greenleaf turns homicidal, and the con artist finds himself on the run, furiously covering his tracks.
Anthony Minghella directed this Hitchcockian-influenced thriller with just the right amount of tension and precision, showcasing his A-list cast, who were at the prime of their careers. The movie doesn’t shy away from the gay subtext between Ripley and Greenleaf, lacing their scenes with an extra layer of complexity. The current era of income inequality makes Tom Ripley an especially appealing character–hence the forthcoming Netflix series.
The Bling Ring (2013)
The kids are not alright in this satirical look at the teenagers who robbed Hollywood blind. Director Sofia Coppola’s 2013 feature The Bling Ring recounts the true story of five teenagers who broke into the celebrity mansions of Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, and many others, collectively stealing over $3 million in high-priced merchandise. The fact that they got away with it was surprising enough, but more shocking was how easy it was.
Coppola staged these brazen acts like a documentary and gained permission from celebrities like Paris Hilton to film on location in their homes. The movie highlights a young, talented cast that inhabits these vapid, amoral teenagers with no judgment. Harry Potter starlet Emma Watson nearly steals the movie with her “I need to grow as a spiritual human being” speech, shredding her Hermione persona in the process.
Elysium (2013)
Filmmaker Neill Blomkamp’s disappointing follow-up to his groundbreaking District 9 became the director’s first (of many) big-budget flops. The cyberpunk actioner set in the year 2154 explores a world where the wealthy one percenters live on a luxurious orbiting space station while the rest of the population resides on a climate-ravaged Earth.
Despite its stunning production design and intricate visual effects, Elysium suffers from a simplistic portrayal of the haves and have-nots, causing its social commentary to lose its bite. Where District 9 cleverly mixed the politics of South Africa’s immigration practices into its narrative, Elysium failed to do the same with its version of income inequality.
But one element that has aged well is its frightening vision of a barren plant due to climate change. The film also features a world-weary performance by Matt Damon, and Jodie Foster shines in a rare villainous turn as the space station’s icy commander.
Hustlers (2019)
Jennifer Lopez gives a tour de force performance in Hustlers, the true-life tale of a group of New York strippers who turn the tables on their affluent Wall Street clients. Set in the lean years of 2008’s great recession, Lopez leads a band of strippers who target deep-pocketed men in bars, get them drunk on drug-laced cocktails, then accompany them back to their gentlemen’s club where the girls steal their credit cards, charging them to their limit.
Lopez reminded everyone that she has real acting talent, and her slow-motion entrance draped in that fur coat was one for the ages. Lakini Hustlers shines as an ensemble piece, giving this group of exotic dancers compelling backstories on why they would eventually break the law.
The film rewires the audience’s moral compass as it sharply examines the tragedy of the Great Recession. Yes, these women technically stole, but they pilfered from the Wall Street barons who wrecked the country’s economy and walked away scot-free.
Metropolis (1927)
The grandfather of the cyberpunk genre, the silent masterpiece Metropolis explores the specter of class inequality with its futuristic setting. The wealthy residents of the utopian “Metropolis” live a carefree life built on the backs of underground workers who keep the city functioning. But when the son of the city’s founder, Freder, falls in love with low-class activist Maria, they unleash forces that want to burn “Metropolis” to the ground.
Directed by the great German expressionist Fritz Lang, Metropolis features a stylized production design that would influence such films as Blade Runner, Batman Returns, and Dark City. While the early 20th-century Industrial Revolution informed the movie’s income inequality commentary, the storyline remains relevant in this post-industrial age of the 21st century. If anything, a re-watch of Metropolis reminds audiences that not much has changed in the last century.
Marie Antoinette (2006)
Director Sofia Coppola dramatized France’s infamous Queen, whose spendthrift ways helped ignite the French Revolution that toppled the country’s monarchy. Kirsten Dunst stars as the teenage queen in this sumptuous and slightly anachronist retelling fueled by its new wave needle drops.
Marie Antoinette gives a balanced portrait of a young woman who was less a hard-partying heiress and more of a teenager isolated in the halls of the Palace of Versailles. Antoinette will always be associated with the rich rallying cry “Let them eat cake,” even if historically, she never uttered those words.
The production received extensive access to the Versailles Palace, filming on location where the actual events took place. This gives the film an immersive, almost documentary-style quality that is rare for a period piece. Coppola keeps the POV on the royals, never leaving the walls of Versailles, where the lower classes lived in immense poverty. Without the contrast, the narrative lacks teeth, leaving audiences unsure how they should feel about these pampered figures.
The only glimpse we get is when Marie lays her head on the Versailles balcony as she confronts a torch-filled mob. It’s an operatic beat that foreshadows Marie’s eventual death by guillotine.
Parasite (2019)
Image Credit: CJ Entertainment.
Korean auteur Bong Joon-ho made Oscar history when his 2019 satirical thriller became the first foreign language film to win Best Picture (along with nabbing the Best Director trophy). Parasite deftly explores the dynamics of wealth inequality through the symbiotic relationship between the poverty-stricken Kim clan and the upper-class Park family.
Director Joon-ho channels Alfred Hitchcock lacing tension and humor filmed with masterful camerawork. The movie starts like a playful caper as each member of the Kim clan infiltrates the Park household as various employees, unaware that they are part of the same family.
Yet Parasite switches gears into darker territory as the repercussions of the Kim’s elaborate ruse turns deadly for both families. The film remains a modern-day fable that explores the stark income inequality in Korea and the world at large.
Citizen Kane (1941)
With its groundbreaking filmmaking style from director Orson Welles, Citizen Kane wears the crown of the greatest movie film of all time. While that’s debatable, the film potently explores how the wealthy can manipulate the world stage through the flow of information.
Based not so loosely on real-life media tycoon William Randolph Hearst, the picture tells the tale of Charles Foster Kane, who rises from a poor child into one of the world’s most influential figures through his publishing empire, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. And uttering a mysterious word on his deathbed: Rosebud.
Despite its 1941 setting, the story will remind modern audiences of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, or Donald Trump as media barons who can shape world events. Citizen Kane examines how such income inequality can warp society and comments on how the unfair distribution of wealth continues today.
Knives Out (2019) & Glass Onion (2022)
Following The Last Jedi, writer/director Rian Johnson pivoted to the world of the Agatha Christie-style mystery with Knives Out and the sequel Glass Onion. With all-star casts led by Daniel Craig’s weirdly accented Detective Benoit Blanc, both films turn the whodunit formula on its head, becoming a “whydunit” instead. As Detective Blanc investigates each murder, he also uncovers the dark secrets of his ultra-elite clients, whose eccentricities can drive them to murder.
Knives Out centers around famous crime novelist Harlan Thrombey, who’s found dead shortly after his 85th birthday. A mysterious benefactor hires Blanc to aid the police in their investigation, sifting through the patriarch’s dysfunctional family, who all have motivations to see Thrombey dead. The “eat the rich” undercurrent comes courtesy of Ana De Armas playing Marta Cabrera, Thrombey’s private nurse, who forms a genuine bond with the wealthy novelist and becomes a central figure in his mysterious death.
The rare sequel that’s just as good as the original Glass Onion brings a more pointed criticism of its well-to-do characters. In this installment, Blanc attends tech billionaire Miles Bronn’s weekend getaway on his private Greek island, where he’s brought several of his rich “disruptor” friends. As always, someone turns up dead, and our beloved Blanc springs into action.
Glass Onion brings little nuance to its elite cast of characters, all of whom would backstab each other if given the chance. And thanks to a standout performance from Edward Norton as Bron, the film delightfully mocks Silicon Valley’s tech-bro culture.
Snowpiercer (2013)
Korean director Bong Joon-ho made his first English language film with this stylized cyberpunk thriller starring Chris Evans, Jaimie Bell, and Tilda Swinton. The movie features a surreal setting where the last remnants of humanity live aboard “Snowpiercer,” a giant train that travels the globe in a climate-ravaged future. Snowpiercer takes the plot outlines of Metropolis and Elysium and transposes them to a train, where the lower-class passengers stuck in the back carriages revolt against their wealthy overlords near the front of the locomotive.
Director Joon-ho brings his unique visual flair to this wildly creative backdrop, although the movie’s class system metaphor is anything but subtle. Chris Evans gives a darkly intense performance far removed from his heroic Captain America persona in the MCU. And a barely recognizable Tilda Swinton must be seen to be believed as Minister Mason, the train’s second in command.
Saltburn (2023)
Writer/Director Emerald Fennell followed up her Oscar-winning Promising Young Woman with this variation of The Talented Mr. Ripley. In Saltburn, Oliver Quick (a magnetic Barry Keoghan) finds himself drawn to aristocratic classmate Felix Catton (a charismatic Jacob Elordi) at Oxford University. During the summer break, Felix invites Oliver to stay at his sprawling estate, “Saltburn,” where the deceitful Oliver systematically destroys the lives of Felix’s eccentric family.
Saltburn features little of the pop sensibilities of Fenell’s Promising Young Woman, lensing the film like a classic Hollywood feature. Yet the director fills the frame with many revolting scenes that make for a lurid watch, portraying Felix’s wealthy family as a reflection of Oliver’s depraved state of mind.
Ready or Not (2019)
This unique horror-comedy hybrid mixes black comedy, screwball hi-jinks, and horror thrills, making it a modern-day cult classic. Ready or Not takes the premise of a nervous young bride marrying into a wealthy dynasty and gives it a The Most Dangerous Game makeover. The film follows Grace (Samara Weaving), who, after her beautiful wedding day to her beloved Alex (Mark O’Brien), discovers that her very rich and eccentric new in-laws have an unusual ritual of welcoming new family members. She’s forced to play hide and seek over the family’s large estate…to the death.
Ready or Not features a whacked-out tone filled with frightening, over-the-top sequences that recall Sam Raimi during his Evil Dead years. The movie takes great pleasure in skewering its rich, affluent characters, particularly Andie MacDowell’s performance as the perverse, psychotic matriarch. This confident effort from co-helmers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett landed the pair the directing job for the Scream reboot in 2022.
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