35 Best Shows & Movies About Money, Finance, and Business You Need to Watch
Money, finance, and business have always been fascinating and intriguing topics for many people. From learning how to manage your finances to understanding the stock market, and following the rise and fall of big corporations, the world of money and business can be both exciting and complex. To help make sense of it all, we’ve compiled a list of the best shows and movies that dive into these topics and provide insights, entertainment, and education.
These productions not only offer a glimpse into the world of finance and business, but also provide lessons on the importance of smart money management, the impact of financial decisions, and the dynamics of the global economy.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Earn, party, spend. The year is 1987. Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) works for L.F. on Wall Street. Rothschild, under the auspices of Mark Hann (Matthew McConaughey), who introduces him to the broker culture permeated with drugs and sex and teaches him the first rule of every broker – make money for yourself. But Jordan’s career is short-lived and ends on the so-called black Monday. Jordan finds a job in a firm’s call center giving investment advice on small-cap stocks.
Soon, thanks to his distinctive and aggressive style, he earns a small fortune on commissions. Then he befriends his neighbor Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill) and the two of them start their own company. They are joined by a few of Jordan’s friends, with whom he teaches sales. Through assurances that are actually deception, the company raises the prices of the shares it owns, sells them, and thus makes money. Soon, Jordan changed the name of the company to a respectable one – Stratton Oakmont, and after an article in Forbes, hundreds of ambitious financiers flocked to them looking for employment.
Wall Street (1987)
Bud Fox (C. Sheen) is a stockbroker on Wall Street and has only one desire – to get to the top. During the day, he works for his firm, mostly on the phone, recruiting new clients, offering advice, buying and selling. In his free time, he tries to reach his idol, broker Gordon Gekko (M. Douglas), an extremely successful and rich, but also an unscrupulous man.
After Gekko’s numerous refusals to receive him for an interview, Bud eventually manages to reach him and even become his protégé. Their motto is greed is good. So Bud soon finds himself in the world of yuppie, murky business deals, in wealth, surrounded by women…
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)
At a time when the global economy is on the brink of collapse, young Wall Street broker and disreputable former corporate investor Gordon Gekko, who served an 8-year prison sentence for trade secrets and bond fraud, has a dual mission: to warn the financial world of the crash that gets closer and discover who is responsible for the death of the young broker’s mentor.
How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
Three inseparable friends by profession – the serious and enterprising Schatze (L. Bacall), the seductress Paula (M. Monroe) who is complexed by the need to wear glasses and the playful Loco (B. Grable), rent a luxury apartment in Manhattan, wanting to radically change their lives. Namely, fed up with living life, they decide to find a suitable groom with a seven-figure sum in their bank account.
And, indeed, they go in search of their goal: Schatze, who has the experience of marrying a poor man, runs into a rich widower who seems like a good match for her despite the big age difference, Loco meets a married businessman with whom she agrees to go on the trip hoping to meet his equally wealthy friends, and Paula will run into a suspicious guy who will introduce himself to her as an oil magnate. However, their efforts will not go as easily as they thought…
Maxed Out (2006)
Maxed Out exposes the harsh truth of America’s debt crisis in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Despite being considered one of the world’s wealthiest nations, the country is grappling with a heavy load of individual and government debt. The film takes viewers on a journey into the heart of America’s debt culture, where everything appears fine as long as the minimum payment arrives on time.
Despite a lingering sense that something is not right, people are reassured not to worry and that more credit is always available. Maxed Out sheds light on the inner workings of the modern financial industry, reveals the true meaning of “preferred customer,” and highlights why the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The film is a blend of humor and shock, painting a picture of a national crisis that is all too familiar to many.
Jerry Maguire (1996)
Sports manager Jerry Maguire seemingly has it all – a successful career, tons of clients, even more money and a sexy fiancee. He is the best agent who creates national stars out of ordinary athletes, but he soon realizes that he is no longer satisfied with the titles that athletes bring him, various receptions and large sums of money. One night in a hotel, tormented by remorse because sports stars end up in the hospital because of his greed, he decides to write a memorandum recommending to his company to focus less on profits and more on the welfare of its clients.
The memo receives a standing ovation from his colleagues, but they all suddenly fall silent when Jerry is fired. Only the idealistic secretary responds to his call and joins him in his independent firm, and from the sea of ​​clients, only the rugby player Rod Tidwell remains loyal to him. Left without a job, money, power, and soon without a fiancee, Jerry tries to find the meaning of life again, while his only employee, a single mother, has to face the fact that she has some new feelings for her employer.
“Jerry Maguire” portrays the contemporary American sports industry, which reduces athletes to products manipulated by heartless agents. The lead role of a manager who experiences a moral awakening and finds long-sought love earned Cruise an Oscar nomination for best actor. Although Cruise truly excels here, he is still overshadowed by the explosive Cube Gooding Jr., whose Oscar-winning performance “swallows up” every frame and manages to give the film a dose of humor.
Wall Street Warriors (2006– )
Wall Street Warriors is a reality TV and documentary series that showcases the lives of Wall Street entrepreneurs. The show, produced by MOJO HD channel, is 30 minutes long and shot in high-definition video. So far, two seasons have aired, with a third season in production. However, MOJO HD recently announced it will be ceasing operations in December 2008, leaving the fate of the current season uncertain.
On February 18, 2009, the opening scenes of Wall Street Warriors Season 3 were released on the web. Although it was a short video, it appears to have been filmed during the October 2008 stock market turmoil. Fans of the show are hopeful that Season 3 will eventually air on another network or be made available online.
Inside Job (2021–2022)
With the narrator Matt Damon, the director begins and ends his questioning in Iceland, an advanced country that adopted the American style of banking business and paid dearly for that move. It then explores the spectacular rise and fall of deregulation policies in the United States.
Ferguson builds his story around several dozen players, through conversations with writers, bank officials, government ministers and even a psychotherapist, who talks about a culture conducive to the emergence of behavior in the style of the movie character Gordon Gekko, a symbol of unscrupulous villains in the business world, and about an even bigger number of those who refused to participate in the film.
Rogue Trader (1999)
In the working nineties, the money market of the Far East began to flourish. This is a chance used by many ambitious guys, including Nick Leeson (Ewan McGregor), who works in the Singapore office of the London-based Barings bank. Dissatisfied with his established job as a broker, Nick comes up with a way to “fertilize” his bank’s money in the best possible way.
His transactions are brilliant, but when the bank’s debt grows over a billion dollars, disaster begins. To make things interesting, the market crash was not caused by a financial expert with a degree and experience, but by a very ordinary guy who wanted to become famous!
Billions (2016– )
In the series inspired by real events, we follow the conflict between Bobby Axelrod, a charismatic and wealthy king of investment funds, and Chuck Rhoades, a brilliant lawyer who has brought numerous high-caliber criminals to justice.
Chuck is convinced that Bobby got his wealth through financial malfeasance, but hard evidence is not easy to come by. Only one thing is clear – the stakes are high and before Chuck and Bobby is the biggest battle of their lives.
Generation: Freedom (2019)
Stuck in a dead-end job, feeling trapped and stressed by non-stop emails, meetings, and co-workers, and unable to pursue their dreams, millions of people struggle to find time for what truly matters. 76% of Americans cite money and work as the top causes of stress. The high cost of living and growing student loan debt has pushed the national retirement age to 75 for recent graduates.
Generation Freedom showcases ordinary people who have broken free from the 9-5 routine and now live on their own terms. Through interviews with successful entrepreneurs and those daring to leave their secure jobs, the film provides a blueprint for time, financial, and location independence. Generation Freedom inspires viewers to take control of their lives and live their dreams without trading time for money.
Moneyball (2011)
The main character of the story is Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball club, who will try to rebuild it in a completely new, more modernized way.
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The Ascent of Money (2008)
In his examination, Professor Niall Ferguson uncovers the roots of the world’s financial system’s key components, revealing that behind every significant historical event – from empires and republics to wars and revolutions – lies a hidden financial truth.
Working Girl (1988)
Dissatisfied with her job and current love status, Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith) accepts a job as a secretary at a large firm on Wall Street. Her boss Katharine Parker (Sigourney Weaver) is seemingly kind, but in fact, she appropriates and uses all the ideas of her co-workers.
While Katharine doesn’t come to work because she broke her leg, Tess’s circumstances, as well as her innate sense of this work and logic, will lead to her rapid progress in the business, but also to the liking of one of the CEOs (Harrison Ford). However, everything changes when Katharine returns to work…
Industry (2020– )
Aspiring finance graduates venture into a competitive job market during the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and economic recession.
The Big Short (2015)
The bet of the century is a true story about several extremely skilled investors who, in the period from 2007 to 2010, took advantage of the situation of constant growth in real estate prices and the creation of a large number of mortgages, and made a fortune by unpopular, calculated betting on financial collapse.
Brewster’s Millions (1985)
Monty Brewster (Richard Pryor) is a baseball player whose career is on the wane, which he takes pretty badly. One night he got into a fight in a bar, and his bail was paid for by a man he had never known before. It turns out that Monty is the long-lost nephew and sole legal heir of one of the richest men in the country, who left him $300 million, but under one condition.
In order to really get the money, Monty has to pass an unusual test – he has to spend 30 million dollars in 30 days to prove that he knows how to enjoy the money. However, at the end of that period, he must not own anything, he must not throw away or give away money, and he must not tell anyone what he is actually doing. If it doesn’t work, the money goes to the lawyer’s fund.
Nevertheless, Walter Hill successfully and effectively incorporated a reflection on how money really does not guarantee happiness. But when the leading pair of characters are played by legends Richard Pryor and John Candy, it’s no surprise that the result is a fantastic comedy.
Owning Mahowny (2003)
Toronto 1980. Dan Mahowny (P. Seymour Hoffman) is one of the five chief managers of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. The youngest in the management top of the bank, he enjoys the full trust of his colleagues. Likewise, his girlfriend Belinda (M. Driver) trusts him. But in fact, Mahowny is an obsessive gambler and gambling addict who created a fake account in his own bank into which he deposits huge sums of the bank’s money, then withdraws it and goes with it to the gambling empire in Atlantic City.
There he gambles to exhaustion, whether he loses or wins, and in the end, he always leaves with empty pockets because he doesn’t know how to stop even when he wins a lot of money. Criminal Frank Perlin (M. Chaykin), who serves as Mahowny’s cover for a fake bank account, is drawn into the game.
Over time, Belinda realizes that her boyfriend is an addict and tries to help him, but he refuses help and convinces her that he is not addicted, but that he is gambling in order to repay a debt. However, Perlin is eavesdropped on by the police, and through him, they suspect that Mahowny is illegally obtaining money…
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)
J. Pierrepont Finch rises in the corporate world by following the unethical advice in the book “How to Succeed in Business.” He starts at the mail room of the “World-Wide Wicket Company” and becomes vice president of advertising.
He uses information about the president’s advances on a secretary to further his own climb. The president’s nephew Bud Frump tries to compete, but Finch becomes chairman of the board. He may aim for the White House next.
Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things (2015)
Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things explores how simplifying life can lead to a better existence. The film showcases a diverse range of minimalists—from families to entrepreneurs, architects to artists, and even a former Wall Street broker—who have embraced a meaningful life with less.
Living on One Dollar (2013)
Four friends embark on a 2-month challenge in rural Guatemala to live on $1 a day, documenting their struggles with hunger, parasites, and financial stress using a video camera.
Trading Places (1983)
Spin the “Wheel of Fortune” with us and find out for yourself. Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) is a successful Philadelphia businessman who owns a beautiful apartment, a luxury car and a lot of money, and has a ravishing girlfriend. Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) is an ordinary beggar and pickpocket.
Winthorpe’s employers, the Duke brothers, bet that by swapping the lifestyles of the two mentioned, they will also change their habits – Billy Ray will become a respected broker, and Louis will very quickly turn to crime. Suddenly, Louis finds himself without a job or a home, in the company of the glamorous prostitute Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis).
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Chris Gardner (Smith) is a family man struggling to make ends meet. Despite her efforts to keep the family together, the mother (Newton) of their five-year-old son Christopher lives under constant stress due to financial difficulties. As she can no longer cope with it, she decides to leave the family. Chris, now a single father, is determined to find a better-paying job using all his skills.
He finally becomes an intern at a prestigious brokerage house, so even though he doesn’t get paid for it, he stays at work in the hope of getting an education and thus finding a promising job. Without any financial help, Chris and his son are kicked out of their apartment and forced to sleep in homeless shelters, bus stops, toilets, and wherever they can find a place to spend the night.
Despite his troubles, Chris tries to be a careful and conscientious father, and his son’s love and trust will help him overcome all difficulties on the way to a better life.
Too Big to Fail (2011)
Traces the 2008 financial crisis through Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s experience.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
As it snows on Christmas Eve, a desperate George Bailey (J. Stewart) pressed by debt and under the influence of alcohol decides to commit suicide. And Saint Joseph decides to send the angel Clarence (H. Travers) to help George.
George Bailey (R. J. Anderson) was a good-natured and playful kid. While he fantasized about how one day he would travel the whole world, a little girl Mary Hatch (J. Gale) fell in love with him. Instead of going to college and traveling the world, George will stay in Bedford Falls to take over the management of his father’s company. And when Mary Hatch (D. Reed) returns from studies, their relationship will end in marriage, in which they will have four children…
Boiler Room (2000)
Seth Davis (G. Ribisi) is a failed college student who runs an illegal home casino. Everything would be fine if there were no problems gaining respect and love from the cold father, federal judge Marty Davis (R. Rifkin). Seth soon gets a job in a small brokerage firm and starts to climb from scratch to the top.
His father seems to be starting to give in a bit, seeing that his son is still trying to improve. Seth begins a relationship with secretary Abbie (N. Long) and becomes close to broker Chris (V. Diesel). But his curiosity draws him to discover the background of the company’s operations…
American Psycho (2000)
Patrick Bateman is young, attractive and rich. He belongs to the business elite of New York. He lives perfectly, in a super modern apartment, uses only the best products, wears the most expensive clothes, and eats the best food. During the day he is a perfect young businessman, and at night – a perfect serial killer.
Beautiful young women find him irresistible and few will refuse his invitation. Unbridled in sex, and inventive in crime, Patrick carefully chooses the means of killing, from chainsaws to expensive knives. The same call for perfection haunts him in crime and he increases his collection of corpses. Detective Donald Kimball suspects that Patrick is a criminal, but has no proof.
Margin Call (2011)
The film shows how much private financial companies, especially in America, need stricter supervision by state regulatory bodies and stricter rules of conduct in order to avoid that insatiable individuals in their efforts to achieve as much profit as possible threatening the functioning of the entire American and even the world economy.
Black Monday (2019–2021)
“Black Monday” revisits the worst stock market crash in Wall Street history on October 19, 1987, uncovering the mystery behind its cause. It follows a group of outsiders who challenge the traditional Wall Street establishment, causing a chain reaction that leads to the crash of the world’s largest financial system, a Lamborghini limousine, Don Henley’s birthday party, and the glass ceiling.
Parasite (2019)
The Oscar-winning film by the respected South Korean director is the story of two families: the wealthy Parks and the impoverished Kims. After their lives unexpectedly become intertwined, the cunning Ki-woo Kim decides to take advantage of the Parks’ naivety to enable his family to escape from poverty.
Barbarians at the Gate (1993)
New York in 1988: F. Ross Johnson, Director of R.J.R. Nabisco, sweats in this story of the biggest corporate takeover in Wall Street history. His final offer to buy his own company for $112 per share is being reviewed by the board. But the game isn’t over – until it’s over. Johnson has a rival: Henry Kravis of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co…
The buying master, and First Boston and Forstmann Little are also waiting in line. Will Johnson, the man whom time has called a symbol of levity, get what he wants? Will he become one of the richest men in history and end up owning 50 American corporations?
Joy (2015)
Inspired by a true story, this film depicts the emotional life journey of a woman who is determined to keep her eccentric, dysfunctional family together – despite all the seemingly insurmountable differences.
Guided by her own genius and desire to realize her life’s dream, Joy succeeds in her plan and becomes the founder of an empire worth a trillion dollars, thereby transforming her own life, as well as the lives of her family members.
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Jamal Malik (D. Patel) is an eighteen-year-old young man from Mumbai, a street child, a “dog from the slum”, without parents, often without food. From an early age, he learned to live a hard, poor life. But his life changes when he applies and manages to qualify for the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire quiz.
To the amazement of millions of viewers and with the cheering of the entire nation, Jamal manages to answer all the questions. Jamal is just one question away from winning 20 million rupees! This is so unusual that it arouses the suspicion of the police, who begin questioning him. Answering questions, Jamal recounts the events of his life, from his earliest memories to his difficult upbringing.
The memories are so vivid that, in flashbacks, we experience them together with the main character, and the same happens to the strict and rude police inspector. Jamal’s stories are at the same time poignant and touching and sad and funny, and in each of these events, he learned one answer to the questions he received in the quiz…
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
A group of real estate agents find themselves in a bind – sales have plummeted and an arrogant Blake arrives from headquarters to make it clear that they have a week to raise sales or face being fired, and whoever records the best result will win a prize Cadillac. The oldest salesman Shelley Levene, a member of the “old school”, is desperately trying to stay in business, but it is clear that time has overtaken him.
Dave Moss and George Aaronow are also desperate, and the most capable of them all, Ricky Roma, manages to negotiate a lucrative sale, but the next day the buyer comes to his office wanting to cancel the contract. Meanwhile, someone robbed the office, and its manager, Johnny Williamson, called the police.
In Debt We Trust: America Before the Bubble Bursts (2006)
