Trader's Film Library: Films and Series About the Markets

Trader's Film Library · introduction. I've collected films, series and documentaries that have a real connection to markets, trading and finance: from Wall Street classics to modern scandals and crises. Each has its own article: what it's about, what's true in it from a market point of view, what lessons it offers a trader, what to watch out for and how useful it is (1–5 stars). I cover a few related titles together, e.g. the documentaries about Madoff or GameStop.

Films (72)

Margin Call (2011) Trading Places (1983) Wall Street (1987) Boiler Room (2000) The Hummingbird Project (2018) L'Eclisse (1962) Other People's Money (1991) Barbarians at the Gate (1993) Pi (1998) The Bank (2001) Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) Arbitrage (2012) Capital (2012) The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Money Monster (2016) Fair Play (2023) Quicksilver (1986) Seize the Day (1986) Working Girl (1988) Dealers (1989) The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) A Good Year (2006) The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) Cosmopolis (2012) Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) Blackhat (2015) Tulip Fever (2017) Banksters (2020) Limitless (2011) Assault on Wall Street (2013) The Big Short (2015) Inside Job (2010) Too Big to Fail (2011) Master of the Universe (2013) Documentaries on the 2008 Crisis: Meltdown, Plunder, When Bubbles Burst, Capitalism: A Love Story 99 Homes (2014) Rogue Trader (1999) Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) Kerviel: L'outsider and Rogue Trader: One Trader, 50 Billion Betting on Zero (2016) The China Hustle (2017) Wirecard: Skandal! and King of Stonks Gold (2016) Stock Shock (2009) Billionaire Boys Club (2018) The Laundromat (2019) The Illusion Seller: The Rise and Fall of Generación Zoe (2023) Dumb Money (2023) GameStop in Documentaries: Eat the Rich, Gaming Wall Street, Amateurs vs Wall Street, Rise of the Players The Ascent of Money (2008) Money for Nothing: Inside the Federal Reserve (2013) Warren Buffett: Becoming Warren Buffett and Warren Buffett: How to Make a Fortune Icahn: The Restless Billionaire (2022) Documentaries on Money: The Money Masters, Money as Debt, 97% Owned Moneyball (2011) Rounders (1998) 21 and The Last Casino Gambling on Screen: Uncut Gems, Two for the Money, The Gambler Crypto in Documentaries: Banking on Bitcoin, Cryptopia, Money Electric and Arte productions Crypto Scandals: Trust No One, Bitconned, The Biggest Heist Ever, Crypto Boy, Crypto Wall Street in the Background: American Psycho, The Hudsucker Proxy, The Taking of Pelham 123, Bankerin, Glengarry Glen Ross Trader (1987) Floored (2009) Equity (2016) Life Without Principle (2011) The Wizard of Lies (2017) The Associate (1996) It's a Wonderful Life (1946) High-Frequency Trading in Documentaries: Quants, Money & Speed, The Wall Street Code, The Speed Traders Diamond Hands: The Legend of WallStreetBets (2022) £830,000,000: Nick Leeson and the Fall of Barings (1996) Economics in a Nutshell: How the Economic Machine Works, The Crisis of Credit Visualized, Money, Banking and the Federal Reserve

Series (16)

Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story (2020) Madoff on Screen: The Monster of Wall Street, Chasing Madoff and the 2014 Documentary Die Affäre Cum-Ex (2025) American Greed (2007) Billions (2016) Industry (2020) The Fear Index (2022) The Exchange (2023) Capital City and Wall Street Warriors Money, Explained and How to Get Rich Black Monday (2019) Devils (2020) Bad Banks (2018) Million Dollar Traders (2009) Dirty Money (2018) Big Business in TV Series: Succession, The Dropout, Silicon Valley, WeCrashed

Top 10 to start with

1. Margin Call (2011) ★★★★★: The best film about risk: required viewing for anyone who trades with leverage.
2. The Big Short (2015) ★★★★★: The best film about the 2008 crisis and about being right alone, against the market.
3. Rogue Trader (1999) ★★★★★: Required viewing: this is what a trader who won't accept a loss looks like.
4. Moneyball (2011) ★★★★★: The best film about a statistical edge, even though it's not about markets.
5. Wall Street (1987) ★★★★: A classic about how the fastest road to money in the markets often leads to prison.
6. Trading Places (1983) ★★★★: The best comedy about futures: funny and instructive.
7. Boiler Room (2000) ★★★★: A lesson in how cold-call “opportunities” work and why you should never get involved.
8. The Hummingbird Project (2018) ★★★★: A rare film about what part of the modern market really looks like: a race against time.
9. Too Big to Fail (2011) ★★★★: The 2008 crisis from the perspective of the people who tried to stop it.
10. Inside Job (2010) ★★★★: The Oscar-winning documentary about how the system led to the 2008 crisis.

All films by category (72)

Feature films and documentaries.

Markets and trading in fiction: 1. Margin Call ★★★★★ · 2. Trading Places ★★★★ · 3. Wall Street ★★★★ · 4. Boiler Room ★★★★ · 5. The Hummingbird Project ★★★★ · 6. L'Eclisse ★★★ · 7. Other People's Money ★★★ · 8. Barbarians at the Gate ★★★ · 9. Pi ★★★ · 10. The Bank ★★★ · 11. Wall Street ★★★ · 12. Arbitrage ★★★ · 13. Capital ★★★ · 14. The Wolf of Wall Street ★★★ · 15. Money Monster ★★★ · 16. Fair Play ★★★ · 17. Quicksilver ★★ · 18. Seize the Day ★★ · 19. Working Girl ★★ · 20. Dealers ★★ · 21. The Bonfire of the Vanities ★★ · 22. A Good Year ★★ · 23. The Pursuit of Happyness ★★ · 24. Cosmopolis ★★ · 25. Jack Ryan ★★ · 26. Blackhat ★★ · 27. Tulip Fever ★★ · 28. Banksters ★★ · 29. Limitless ★ · 30. Assault on Wall Street ★ · 80. Equity ★★★ · 81. Life Without Principle ★★★ · 83. The Associate ★★

The 2008 crisis: 31. The Big Short ★★★★★ · 32. Inside Job ★★★★ · 33. Too Big to Fail ★★★★ · 34. Master of the Universe ★★★★ · 35. Documentaries on the 2008 crisis ★★★ · 36. 99 Homes ★★

Frauds and scandals: 37. Rogue Trader ★★★★★ · 38. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room ★★★★ · 39. Kerviel ★★★★ · 40. Betting on Zero ★★★★ · 41. The China Hustle ★★★★ · 43. Wirecard ★★★★ · 45. Gold ★★★ · 48. Stock Shock ★★ · 49. Billionaire Boys Club ★★ · 50. The Laundromat ★★ · 51. The Illusion Seller ★★ · 82. The Wizard of Lies ★★★ · 87. Nick Leeson and the fall of Barings ★★★★

GameStop and retail investors: 52. Dumb Money ★★★★ · 53. GameStop in documentaries ★★★ · 86. Diamond Hands ★★★

People, money and institutions: 59. The Ascent of Money ★★★★ · 60. Money for Nothing ★★★★ · 61. Warren Buffett ★★★★ · 62. Carl Icahn ★★★ · 64. Documentaries on money ★ · 78. Trader ★★★★ · 79. Floored ★★★★ · 84. It's a Wonderful Life ★★ · 85. HFT in documentaries ★★★★ · 88. Economics in a nutshell ★★★

Risk, probability and gambling: 65. Moneyball ★★★★★ · 66. Rounders ★★★ · 67. 21 and The Last Casino ★★★ · 68. Gambling on screen ★★★

Crypto: 69. Crypto in documentaries ★★ · 70. Crypto scandals ★★

Wall Street in the background: 71. Wall Street in the background ★

All series (16)

Drama series: 42. Scam 1992 ★★★★ · 46. Die Affäre Cum-Ex ★★★ · 54. Billions ★★★★ · 55. Industry ★★★★ · 56. The Fear Index ★★★ · 57. The Exchange ★★★ · 58. Capital City and Wall Street Warriors ★★ · 72. Black Monday ★★ · 73. Devils ★★★ · 74. Bad Banks ★★★★ · 77. Big business in TV series ★★

Documentary series: 44. Madoff on screen ★★★★ · 47. American Greed ★★ · 63. Money, Explained ★★ · 75. Million Dollar Traders ★★★★ · 76. Dirty Money ★★★

How I chose

• What counts is the connection to markets: trading, risk, crises, financial scandals, money and decisions under pressure.
• The rating (1–5 stars) is about usefulness for a trader, not the film's merit as cinema.
• Related titles, e.g. the documentaries about Madoff or GameStop, are covered together in one article.
• For films that oversimplify or misrepresent the market, I say so plainly in the “What to watch out for” section.

Know a film or series that's missing here? Let me know in the comments and I'll add it to the Film Library.

How to use it

• Start with the Top 10, then choose a film or series by category.
• After watching, read the article and see which lesson you can carry over to your own trading.
• Many articles refer to the Atlas of cognitive biases (🧠 Psychology and the journal): films are a great illustration of these mechanisms.

Educational content, not investment advice. Facts about the films were checked on Filmweb and other sources, and described cautiously where there was doubt.