6 Must-Watch Movies for Finance Majors
As a finance student, you already may have got the assignment to watch a movie that depicts the finance topic and you asking yourself, why? It isn’t breaking news that often films suffer from inaccuracies, or any specific sphere serves as a background for characters’ journeys at the spotlight. It is a fair criticism, while it is important to underline the examples that offer deep research from the creator’s part, the case study for your consideration, not as accurate as of the real cases, but offering you interesting (and sometimes entertaining) perspectives on a subject.
Here are the top films that help finance students unravel the nuances of complicated systems, the impact of individual decisions, and other turning points that shape the outcomes of a case.
1. Margin Call (2011)
Margin Call is a must-watch for understanding how the stock market works, and individual companies depend on it. The movie’s major theme concerns the over-leveraging assets investment fraud that may lead to bank bankruptcy. Easily, you will learn and memorize that is volatility, MBS assets, and the market trends within the 109 minutes of this thriller.
At the same time, you see how a company deals with the situation in order to stay at the top and avoid bankruptcy. There’s no heroes or bad guys, just people who do everything possible for the sake of the company.
2. The Big Short (2015)
The film is based on a 2010 book by Michael Lewis that explores how the housing bubble impacted the financial crisis of 2007-2008. The film shows “behind the scenes” of brokers, analysts, and other heroes of the everyday market, the dishonesty of agencies, and how all of these factors may lead to tremendous consequences.
The Big Short is a bit of guilty pleasure both for financial savvy and viewers, who don’t have additional training in this topic. The breaking of the fourth wall never irritates you but gives substantial explanations of many finance concepts like subprime mortgage, audits, and debt obligations.
3. Wall Street (1987)
Wall Street offers you more than just a financial lesson, as it was a cultural phenomenon and still remains so. The source of many quotes, it shows how insider trading works, what securities frauds, and why ethics is important.
Wall Street is an example of the balance between teaching the viewer about the nuances of capitalism and how one puts their integrity on a scale. Of course, this film has “villains” and “good guys” narrative, but as an observer, you understand why ethics corruption may lead to devastating consequences for a stock market in perspective.
4. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
It goes without saying that this movie became a trademark of itself. Everyone remembers Leonardo Dicaprio as a cutthroat “wolf” and his partner Margot Robbie. Here you will learn what over-the-counter brokerage firms are, and pump and dump scheme, which involves inflating stock prices through misleading statements.
No one should view the protagonist as a hero, but it also allows the viewers to understand that charismatic leaders can manipulate the financial world and exploit microcap securities fraud schemes. The rise and fall of a “genius” is a good lesson for every finance student.
5. Rogue Trader (1999)
You may start to wonder why so many films involve the inevitable downfall of heroes who try to outsmart the system and gain from it. Rogue Trader is a story of a trader who caused the insolvency of Baring Bank, by concealing the losses in the hidden accounts.
Everything ends up with a large sigma move after trying to increase the amount of money invested in Nikkei futures. The protagonist could have avoided this situation by having a good stop-loss strategy. This movie teaches you a good lesson about risk-management and understanding the ethics of one’s decisions.
6. Boiler Room (2000)
Another movie to understand pump and dump strategy and stock market realities. Once again, integrity and ethics are as important as understanding the financial instruments, so you may be one step ahead of a seemingly profitable deal that may lead you to the downfall.
The title of the movie itself describes the concept of “boiler room operation”, the outfit using high-pressure sales tactics via cold calls, for selling clients stock. Often, the victims of boiler room operations suffer the most, while brokers disappear from the sight. The same technique can be seen in The Wolf of Wall Street.
Although this list doesn’t include all movies that had finances topics highlighted, they have more than just entertainment value. You may consult with EssayPro for more examples and in-depth analysis of the film themes. Indeed, you have an opportunity to give your own analysis and suggestions, how the situation could have been avoided or dealt with. So, grab a drink, snacks, and get ready for some good movies.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
