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Parents' Guide to

Bankrolled

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Friends exploit investors with app; language, sex, drugs.

Movie NR 2021 97 minutes
Bankrolled Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

  • Bankrolled Movie: Scene # 1
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What's the Story?

BANKROLLED presents a world of overprivileged, self-obsessed young adults. Seaweed therapy, personal trainers, high colonics, green smoothies, and mental performance-enhancing drugs are the trendy, momentary obsessions of a self-involved cohort of tech-obsessed elite millennials who want to "change the world" but, more importantly, make a ton of money. Blas (Ricardo Polanco) is an unemployed coffee expert/slacker who notes that it's less difficult to get into Harvard than to get a job as a barista at the most elite local coffee bar. He loves fair-trade and ethically sourced everything and has no interest in money. His best friend and roommate Polo (Aldo Escalante) is panicking that he's 30 and hasn't yet "made it." He longs to be included in a set of pretentious venture capitalists and tech incubator types who have no interest in him. Polo wracks his brains for what problem to solve, as he eliminates sectors one by one. Hospitality is "saturated" with Airbnb and other apps. Ditto sex, with Tindr, Bumble, Grindr, and Match. Aderales (Fabrizio Santini), who sells performance-enhancing drugs to the tech set, gives them "Ukrainian Ritalin," which sets the pair on an all-night tear of brainstorming, resulting in a polished video presentation of their new app, SignNow. They have no memory of making the presentation, but declaring that "humans are the only charitable species on the planet," they urge that "we should entertain ourselves while we're doing it." The pitch wins them two million in startup funding from Bankrolled, a prestigious venture firm run by bon vivant Gus (Sebastian Zurita), a caricature of egomania in the tech world. SignNow is a shallow bit of clickbait designed to take people's money by adding games and likes to making users feel virtuous. One observer calls it Facebook plus Change.org plus Candy Crush. Posting to thousands every time they give blood or sign petitions to end poverty gives them street cred as do-gooders. Users boast, "I eradicated Ebola," and "I legalized abortion in the Vatican," after simply signing online petitions and posting their good deeds. How will the roommates get themselves out of this mess?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Bankrolled savagely rips and gleefully satirizes the ego-driven app world. Described as "nerds who want to save the world," those nerds achieve the "coolness" that had previously eluded them through app success, creating any old app that will make them fortunes, no matter how absurd or mercenary. Melon-Meter will tell you if a melon is ripe. Someone creates a knockoff Tindr, a get-sex-now app for dogs. App creators and funders boast showy support of "LGBTTQQIAAP" causes. A drug seller has a QR code tattooed to his neck so that customers can pay him easily.

The movie presents this world as crass, crude, and self-promoting. Anyone who doesn't have their own cryptocurrency is mocked. Blas rolls his eyes endlessly as he watches Polo sink deeper into the superficial world of start-ups and, as a comic device, that gets old quick. That's because the movie's biggest flaw is that there's no one to like here, no redeemable anti-hero, no lovable villain, no one who wins us over after disappointing us. Still, older teens might find it amusing, and it could generate discussion about the role that apps play in our lives.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how the movie portrays the use of "recreational" drugs. How does the movie portray the accomplishments of two men who take "Ukrainian Ritalin" to enhance their ability to focus on creating their new app? Are there any consequences for the drug use?

  • How does the movie portray the app creators? One creative partner believes apps are bad for people. Do you think he's right? Why, or why not?

  • Can you think of a real-life problem that a phone app might be able to solve?

  • Do you think it's possible to do good for humankind and make money in the effort? Do you think large amounts of money might corrupt the original goal?

Movie Details

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