Can movies teach you finance?

The world of cinema is the most attractive and pretty educative!  Let's find out the top 5 films related to finance and investment that gave the audience an insight into the world of finance!

BY SIRJAN KAUR KOHLI | 6 min read

1.  The Wolf of Wall Street

The first movie that comes to anyone's mind     when the words Investment and movies come up together. A masterpiece directed by Martin Scorsese deals with the life of a stockbroker in New York city and how his firm, engaged in corruption and fraud on Wall Street, which ultimately led to his career's downfall. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the lead actor, Jordan Belfort, the movie is a biographical film on the accounts of the protagonist and his tryst with the world of stock market. The Wolf of Wall Street gained mostly positive reviews and DiCaprio received accolades for his performance in the film, including the Best Actor award at the 71st Golden Globe Awards.

2. The Big Short

The Big Short is a 2015 American film directed by Adam McKay based on a book written by Michael Lewis. It showcases how the financial crisis of 2008 was triggered by a real estate bubble that affected over half of the United States. The film has an all star cast featuring the likes of  Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale and Brad Pitt to name a few. The film was appraised for using unconventional techniques to explain financial instruments. It is a hardcore finance film dealing in various elements related to the biggest global economic crisis. It's a must watch for all finance enthusiasts!

3. Wall Street

This 1987 film is one of the first accredited financial films starring Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas. It revolves around a young stockbroker who gets involved with an unscrupulous corporate raider. The film received a positive response from the critics as well as the audience. A sequel named Wall Street- Money Never Sleeps was released in 2010 with the same star cast. Being one of the first movies in the field, the film has been well talked about and it's one of the major reasons why it has been seen by such a large audience. Wall Street definitely defined the path for movies related to finance and investment.

4. Margin Call

The story is based around a Wall Street investment bank during the initial period of the 2008 economic crisis. This J.C. Chandor directorial was released in 2011. The film showcases the intricacies of the economic crisis and how it impacted the Investment banks during that time period. Margin Call is an accurate portrayal of the way crises are dealt with in such firms and educates the audience about the same. It also shows the complexity and the compromise that such situations arise at the level of a company as well as an individual.

5. Inside Job

This is a 2010 documentary film directed by Charles Ferguson. It showcases the corruption by the financial services industry in the United States and its impact. The movie is divided into 5 parts covering different aspects of the world of finance. It covers privatization of banks and deregulation of Iceland in 2000, collapse of AIG and Lehman brothers, the warning of growing financial risk in 2005, global recession in Iceland and the rest of the world and the 2008 financial crisis. Since the movie covers such wide aspects of the financial field, it is a must have in the best financial movies of all time. The film received a lot of critical acclaim for its correct portrayal of the events and their impact on different aspects.

These are the best 5 financial movies that taught the audience and viewers the intricacies of the world of finance. All of these movies were well received by both critics and audiences, hence making it to this list! Other famous finance related movies are Rogue Trader, Equity, Trading Places, Boiler Room and Too Big to Fail.

To all the movies and finance fanatics, these are a must watch!