Final Rating: 4/5
At the start of $POSITIONS, Mike Alvarado (Michael Kunicki) has a job, a girlfriend, and a house. Each has its problems – his job doesn’t pay well, his girlfriend is frustrated by his fear of intimacy, and his house could use some fixing up – but Mike is able to take care of his father and brother Vinny (Vinny Kress) without much issue.
Mike also has a small investment in $XMUN, a volatile cryptocurrency that suddenly blows up in value. Ecstatic from – theoretically – having just made tens of thousands of dollars, Mike quits his job to become a full-time crypto investor.
Brandon Daley’s debut feature tracks Mike’s rapid downward spiral as he gets swept up in crypto hype. Echoing features like Uncut Gems and Requiem for a Dream, $POSITIONS presents a ride through the incredible highs and abysmal lows of addiction. Daley’s film is stressful and manic, swinging between hilarity and terror as Mike’s life trajectory becomes dependent on a number on his phone.
The tone of $POSITIONS leans heavily into that number as well. After Mike initially hits it big, the title sequence features a synchronized dance alongside his coworkers at the factory. Later, Mike loses thousands after selling his house, and winds up in a literal drug den. It’s not just that when $XMUN is doing well, Mike is doing well, however.
Mike’s crypto addiction and worsening life circumstances mean he needs to see bigger and bigger numbers the deeper he gets into investing. The phenomenal final sequence sees Mike’s investment skyrocket to hundreds of millions of dollars, only for Mike to scour the city and torpedo relationships with everyone remaining in his life as he struggles to cash out.
On multiple occasions, characters point out to Mike that “crypto is a scam.” When he counters that many billionaires make money through crypto, he’s swiftly met with “yes, because they scam people. That’s what billionaires do.”
The fact Mike lives an ordinary, small-town life adds to the gambling-themed commentary.
Mike is a factory worker in a small town in Illinois. He’s the primary breadwinner for his family and takes care of a special-needs brother and alcoholic father. His entire net worth is in crypto, and that net worth is barely four digits.
Mike can’t afford a gambling addiction. “Investing,” however… that sounds like it takes skill, even though the actual method reduces it to watching a number breathe on a screen with “buy” and “sell” buttons.
By adopting the format of an addiction story, $POSITIONS paints cryptocurrency markets as no different than a casino. The film even opens with slot machine sounds as Mike desperately stares at his phone.
Like a casino, there’s someone making money, but it’s not the person being bled dry in hopes of winning big.
$POSITIONS was seen during the 2025 Fantasia Festival. Thank you to Fusion Entertainment for the screener.
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