Gold Brick or Cash is a French comedy-drama film that follows Daniel Sauveur, a factory worker who decides to smuggle luxury perfumes to make a profit. It is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Daniel Sauveur lives in Chartres, a city where a company called Breuil and Sons literally owns everything. Their billboard even blocks his view of the nearby cathedral, which his mom had desired.
After his father died, his uncle looked after him and his mother. The Breuil industries were so popular that people kept their kids’ names on their brands. That’s how Daniel’s best friend got his name; Scania, kept after the truck brand.
Daniel and Scania remained close even in adulthood. They tried to build a delivery company which became reasonably successful, but had to close it down because 90% of their deliveries were for the Breuil industries, leading to ‘economic dependency’.
Eventually, both Daniel and Scania started working for the Breuils in a factory where they manufacture perfumes for luxury brands.
When the head of Breuil Industries dies, his son, Patrick, takes over the business even though his business acumen is still under doubt.
One day, Daniel tries selling one of the Colin Brown Gold perfumes online and instantly starts getting orders. He convinces Scania to start smuggling the perfume and they start to make a huge amount of money.
They eventually start to scale their ‘business’ and reach the point where their distributors started struggling with the supply.
Patrick realises that a huge chunk of the perfumes go unmonitored. His wife, Beatrice, suggests that he sell the company to Brice Nougarolis.
Virginie, a top executive at the Breuil Industries, isn’t given the promotion to General Manager that Patrick promised her.
Daniel offers her revenge. She begins collaborating with him in stealing the bottles, even providing him with the loophole of exactly how many bottles they can steal without getting caught.
They put together an entire team that take up specific roles right from the theft to the delivery. Eventually, they start making around 400,000 Euros in cash every month.
Virginie and Daniel make plans to run away together after scamming Patrick for millions. The crew are having the time of their lives with the whole robbery.
However, Patrick realises that the stock is missing when he checks some of the boxes in the warehouse and tells Beatrice that the acquisition by Brice will suffer if the auditors find out the missing stock.
But it turns out that Beatrice has been betraying Patrick too. She has been sleeping with Brice and corroborated with him to help sell the Breuil Industries. Now that the stock is missing, Brice will get it in a cut-price deal.
Gold Brick ending explained in detail:
What is Brice’s plan?
In order to figure out the state of the stocks, Brice hires Ange, a private investigator who plans to infiltrate Daniel’s group as an ex-convict and worker at the factory.
His plan succeeds as Daniel recruits him, despite protests from the rest of the members. Patricks tells Virginie that he knows an employee has been stealing his stocks.
She warns Daniel about this and backs out of the group, but he decides to continue. Ange figures out that Brice and Beatrice are sleeping together and asks him for money. When he declines, he decides to switch sides.
He sends video footage of Brice and Beatrice having sex. Daniel suggests a plan to rob a shipment of perfumes after their source is cut off.
Ange accompanies them and locates where the stock is held. He tells Patrick but asks for more money as he is taking too many risks.
Does Daniel get away with his crimes?
Daniel and co figure out that Ange is a traitor and chase him but he escapes. When the auditors check the stock, not much is reported missing.
Patrick had contacted Daniel directly to meet. They negotiated a plan to help him get all the stock back by stealing more perfumes and getting enough insurance money to cover the stock that went missing earlier.
However, Daniel manages to make a deal. He wants all the perfumes he steals to remain with him. In turn, he will help Patrick get revenge on Brice.
After Brice buys the company, they replace the perfumes with water, leading to a scandal where Brice loses a fortune.
With the money he received from the perfumes, Daniel starts a company called Sauveur and Sons. He now plans to buy Breuil Industries from Brice on a cut-price deal. Patricks received the full amount for the sale earlier.
Do Daniel and Virginie end up together?
Daniel and Patrick meet later and the latter reveals that the plan for theft and insurance wasn’t his own. He tells Daniel that he has an angel watching over him and she’s blond.
Virginie is revealed to be the mastermind behind the plan. She joins Daniel as he watches Scania bulldozing the Breuil Industries billboard that blocked his view of the nearby cathedral. Daniel has finally managed to elevate his life and stop the monopolisation by the Breuils.
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