Friday, June 24, 2022

GameStop: Rise of the Players

The documentary from director Jonah Tulis, after prolonged introductions of longtime stock supporters of the long-flailing company, looks back on the volatility of GameStop stock in 2021 that saw the stock shoot to historic heights helped by the movement to attack the hedge funds who had been betting against the company creating "the GameStop short squeeze."

GameStop: Rise of the Players does a fairly good job of simplifying the events for the casual viewer, although it does take quite a bit of time to get into the event while spending most of the first hour of the film with the GameStop loyalists who continued to bet on the company well before the craziness began while more briefly touching on the Congressional hearing on market manipulation after Robinhood suspended trading of the stock to the detriment of GameStop and monetary relief to the hemorrhaging hedge funds.

While far from impartial choosing definite heroes and villains, I don't know that many are going to argue with the stance the movie takes painting the hedge funds as big business in the black hats against the much smaller company with its grassroots support. The documentary works as primer for the subject spending more time on the people than on the logistics or legality of what occurred in 2021. While it won't answer all of your questions, it will likely raise enough for those interested in the subject to seek out more information on the subject.

Watch the trailer
  • Title: GameStop: Rise of the Players
  • IMDb: link

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