Parents' Guide to

Dumb Money

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

GameStop stock story is informative, irreverent, profane.

Movie R 2023 104 minutes
Dumb Money Movie Poster: The face of Keith Gill (Paul Dano) is at the bottom of the poster, visible just to the tip of his nose. He wears a ski cap and sunglasses and has a meowing kitten on his head. The rest of the cast appears smaller, behind him.

A Lot or a Little?

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

  • Dumb Money Movie: Keith Gill (Paul Dano) sits at his desk, wearing a red headband and a T-shirt with cats on it, speaking into a microphone and recording a video
  • Dumb Money Movie: Keith Gill (Paul Dano, right) talks with his brother, Kevin (Pete Davidson, left) -- who has a disbelieving look on his face -- while sitting on a bench
  • Dumb Money Movie: Jenny (America Ferrera), wearing a purple winter coat, checks her phone, looking both thoughtful and worried

Community Reviews

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age 11+

Based on 3 parent reviews

Katherine R.
Katherine R. Parent of 18+, 4, 7, 8, 13 and 17-year-old
November 12, 2023
age 8+
Laura M.
Laura M. Adult
September 30, 2023
age 12+
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In DUMB MONEY, Keith Gill (Paul Dano) is a low-level financial analyst and a part-time Redditor and YouTuber who likes to chat about the stock market. He explains to his viewers why he thinks GameStop is a good stock -- and, indeed, he has literally put his money where his mouth is, investing more than $50,000 of his and his wife Carlone's (Shailene Woodley) savings in the company. Meanwhile, wealthy hedge fund manager Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen) is trying to "short" the stock by betting against it, attempting to run the company out of business. Keith's posts start to gain traction, and several small-time and amateur investors -- including nurse Jenny (America Ferrera), GameStop store employee Marcus (Anthony Ramos), and in-debt college students Riri (Myha'la) and Harmony (Talia Ryder) -- begin to buy into GameStop, too. Soon these amateur investors make an actual dent in the market, stirring things up, increasing their wealth, and eventually prompting a congressional inquiry.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (1 ):

This irreverent fact-based comedy miraculously makes its complex mechanics easily graspable, while its lovable, hilarious heroes help it avoid any whiff of seriousness or prestige. Directed by Craig Gillespie, Dumb Money has the same mischievous feel as his I, Tonya. It's told with a refreshing degree of snark, flying in the face of so many solemn, awards-ready, based-on-a-true-story movies. The film is busy and full of flash as it incorporates talking-head newscasters to pontificate on the stock market side of things, while a flood of Reddit memes represents the attitude of the GameStop fans, urging one another not to sell their increasingly valuable stock using mysterious terms like "diamond hands," "HODL," and "tendies."

But before it can induce headaches (as the similar The Big Short often did), Dumb Money returns to the characters: humble, everyday humans who just want a chance at life. On the flip side, there are, of course, villains. In addition to Rogen's Gill, Vincent D'Onofrio, Nick Offerman, and Sebastian Stan are snakily effective as loathsome billionaires, while Pete Davidson gives the movie a lift as Keith's numbskull brother (and the world's worst DoorDash driver). Dumb Money ultimately leaves off with a message of hope: Even if the game is rigged in favor of the uber-wealthy, there are still ways for rebels with causes to play.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how accurate you think Dumb Money is to what actually happened in real life. How do you suppose the filmmakers might have changed it to tell their version of the story?

  • The movie is set during the COVID-19 pandemic. How does it depict that time? How is death shown or discussed?

  • What did you learn about the stock market from watching this movie? Were you encouraged to learn more or invest money? Why, or why not?

  • Do you consider Keith Gill a role model? Why, or why not?

  • Did the heroes win here? Did the villains lose? What does this story look like moving forward?

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