King of Stonks revolves around a digital start-up company that ends up being one of the biggest causes of financial fraud in German history. The series is streaming on Netflix.
Story
Felix and Magnus are at the helm of a digital payments company that has just made an IPO and promises to be a leader in the market space in the years to come.
While Felix has done a lot of the heavy lifting, Magnus has always been the face of the company and his egoistic personality leads him to hog the limelight and very rarely give credit where it is due.
The truth is that the company has some questionable origins and while Felix is putting out fires and trying to make sure they don’t look suspicious, Magnus keeps tooting his own horn and putting them under the spotlight for everyone to see.
Add in a disgruntled journalist, an ambitious short seller, two immature brothers with a notorious reputation, and the Italian mafia, gives Felix a recipe for disaster that he has to somehow turn into the perfect dish.
Through several ups and downs, imaginary money changing hands, and some illegal maneuvers, Felix manages to get his company back on the right track.
Performances
Thomas Schubert is the primary focus of the series and he truly performs at an exemplary level. He plays the average tech nerd who isn’t always appreciated but at the same time, he’s a brilliant fixer who’s quick on his feet and indispensable. Schubert gets the role down to a T.
Matthias Brandt is the chaotic yang to Schubert’s collected yin. He embodies the vainglorious nature that one usually attributes with the rich elite who don’t have their finger on the pulse of the general public. He keeps getting his company in trouble simply by running his mouth and doesn’t take responsibility for his actions too often.
The rest of the cast of King of Stonks have their own idiosyncracies to add to the short series making it a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The characters of Sammy, Sascha, Klaus, the Hermann brothers and few others all have their moments under the sun.
Positives
The series takes a look at stocks and market manipulation and is clearly inspired by other well known films on the same subject like ‘The Big Short’ and ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’.
They’ve even recreated the scene where Leonardo DiCaprio shows everyone else how to make a sale, but this time with a much more hilarious outcome as Felix fails where Leo succeeded.
Felix and Magnus were opposite sides of the same coin but their characters were written to be as fluid as possible. While not exactly redeeming himself, there is a moment where Magnus stands up to his father-in-law and shows that he at least cares about his wife.
Felix on the other hand, is supposed to be the de-facto good guy in the series but he is shown to have no qualms about skirting the law and going to whatever means necessary to secure his company’s future.
The dialogues are written spectacularly well too. There are so many ramblings about the way the world works and each tirade or spiel that Magnus or Felix let out lands hard.
Negatives
The action in King of Stonks moves a little fast at times, not giving the audience enough time to comprehend what’s happening. While they make a point to explain everything about an area that the general public is unaware of, they don’t do a great job of it.
Verdict
King of Stonks is a fast paced series that is great for a brief binge in one evening. One will certainly find themselves comparing this previous films gone by and while it doesn’t compare to those masterpieces, it definitely counts as an admirable representation of the subject matter.
Rating: 3.5/5
Also Read: King of Stonks ending explained: Does CableCash pay for its crimes?