Film

Capital

Name: Capital
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Released: 2012
Cast: Gad Elmaleh, Natacha Régnier, Gabriel Byrne, Bernard Le Coq, Liya Kebede

Workplace drama

A French banker fights for control of his empire as an American hedge fund circles for a takeover. Sleek, tense, and deeply concerned with money and ego, it's a procedural thriller about corporate warfare that observes its power players with cool distance. For anyone fascinated by how finance actually works, or who enjoyed watching smart people scheme.

TMDb rating

3.1

If you liked this

Margin Call2011

Captures the exact moment a financial crisis unfolds in real-time across one trading floor. Ensemble cast doing brilliant work, dialogue that crackles with jargon and dread. The tension comes from numbers, not explosions.

But Very talky and cerebral. If you need a conventional plot with a climax that resolves things, this stays deliberately opaque and ambiguous about outcomes.

The Wolf of Wall Street2013

Scorsese at full throttle: excess, corruption, and the seductive pull of money told with infectious energy. DiCaprio is magnetic. It's a dark comedy masquerading as a crime film, and almost unbearably fun.

But Three and a half hours of depravity. The protagonist is repellent and the film never quite decides whether to celebrate or condemn him. Relentless in ways that exhaust some viewers.

Too Big to Fail2011

HBO drama about the 2008 financial collapse told from inside the boardrooms. Stellar cast including Paul Giamatti and William Hurt. Urgency and clarity about how greed nearly sank the economy.

But Essentially a procedural about meetings and phone calls. If you need action or emotional catharsis, it's dry and institutional by design.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Capital

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Synecdoche, New York2008

Both films examine men clinging to empires while they crumble. Both see power as performance and self-delusion as the price of leadership. One stays procedural; this one goes expressionistic.

A theatre director builds an elaborate replica of New York inside a warehouse as his life collapses. Like *Capital*, it's about power, control, and the performance of self—but Kaufman takes it into fever-dream abstraction. Visually stunning and thematically dense.

But Deliberately confusing structure that refuses clarity. Deeply sad in ways that linger. You will need to think about it, and some viewers resent that demand.

Barbarians at the Gate1993

A financial thriller that moves like a thriller. James Garner and Jonathan Pryce in a hostile takeover battle filled with wit, tension, and genuine stakes. Perfectly paced and deeply enjoyable.

But From the early '90s and it shows. Some of the financial detail has dated, and the tone is considerably lighter than modern takes on the same material.

The Insider1999

A whistleblower fights corporate power and media manipulation. Al Pacino and Russell Crowe at their finest. Three hours that move like they're ninety minutes; moral clarity wrapped in procedural detail.

But Shot in a deliberately unglamorous style. Conversations about tobacco litigation won't ignite everyone. The ending prioritizes principle over resolution.

A Prophet2009

A young man rises through prison hierarchy via intelligence and ruthlessness. French thriller of uncommon sophistication. The structure mirrors corporate power plays exactly—alliances, betrayal, careful performance of self.

But Prison setting with genuine violence. Subtitled. The protagonist is not likeable and the moral landscape is murky throughout.

The Big Short2015

The 2008 crisis from the perspective of the few who saw it coming and bet against the system. Funny, angry, stylistically inventive. Makes complex finance genuinely thrilling and keeps you engaged across two hours.

But Self-consciously clever in its presentation. Fourth-wall breaks and pop-culture cutaways annoy viewers who want straight narrative. Some financial concepts remain opaque even after the film explains them.

Gomorrah2008

Neapolitan crime networks viewed as a sprawling bureaucracy not unlike a corporation. Multiple storylines show how power actually functions at every level. Authentic, unsentimental, hypnotic.

But Deliberately fragmented narrative without a central protagonist. Italian with subtitles. Bleak in ways that offer no comfort or resolution. Requires patience and attention.

Spotlight2015

Journalists investigating institutional corruption. It's a procedural about legwork, documentation, and how systems protect themselves. Quietly devastating and morally precise.

But Deliberately restrained in style and performance. The satisfaction is cerebral rather than emotional. Some find it too understated for its subject matter.

A Serious Man2009

Both follow intelligent men losing control of situations they thought they understood. Both are sardonic about masculine ego and the systems men build to contain chaos. Both suggest the chaos wins.

Coen Brothers' rarest film: a genuine tragicomedy about a man's life unraveling across a single year. Midwest Jewish academia instead of banking, but the structure is identical—professional, personal, and financial collapse converging. Darkly hilarious and genuinely devastating.

But Bleak to the point of nihilism. Refuses conventional catharsis. The ending will frustrate anyone wanting resolution or moral clarity.

The Deal2015

Byrne essentially plays the inverse of his character here—less powerful, more vulnerable, but operating in the same world of high-stakes negotiation and moral compromise. Both films believe that power is about controlling information and narrative.

Israeli thriller about a businessman negotiating a complex real estate deal. Minor-key tension built from conversation and strategy rather than action. Features Gabriel Byrne (who's in *Capital*) in a completely different register—smaller, wearier, morally compromised. Brilliant character study masquerading as a procedural.

But Slow-burn with long takes of people talking in rooms. Hebrew with subtitles. Deliberately unglamorous. Requires viewers to extract tension from negotiation itself.