Summary
Perhaps King of Stonks would be better formatted as a film because six episodes of it “getting to the point” felt a little overstrung.
This review of the Netflix series King of Stonks season 1 does not contain spoilers.
What’s evident about King of Stonks in the early episodes is the vibe it wants to present, with comparisons to The Wolf of Wall Street, War Dogs, and The Big Short. These films rely on the financial outrageousness of a person’s actions within the cogs of society.
The series, which is based on a true story, follows Felix, an eager working professional, hungry for power, working alongside his boss (Magnum), who has the power. Both men have the self-awareness of a goldfish as their company, which sells digital payment systems, is tied to frequent criminal organizations. From the creators of How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast), this Netflix series brings the irony of auto-piloting men believing they are invincible to financial law.
And that seems to be the theme of this type of narrative, especially if you group this series with the mentioned films above. King of Stonks has all the energy to shock, with the characters seemingly showing self-sabotage behavior. The only issue is that we are so desensitized to this story that it hardly provides an impact on the emotions. Instead, we can only gracefully compare it to the seen-before narratives. Watching corporate underlings celebrate perceived victories can barely surpass Leonardo DiCaprio’s passionate “I’m not leaving.”
And so, that’s where the problem lies for King of Stonks. The series focuses heavily on the naivety and ignorance of its characters as its primary selling point. But with that, there’s recognition that the people the series portrays are not even exciting. The narrative props them up as ordinary people who took hold of an opportunity that turned sour.
So with that, the story becomes a little less thrilling despite the appalling nature of a company rinsing funds from the German government while appeasing the mafia. Perhaps King of Stonks would be better formatted as a film because six episodes of it “getting to the point” felt a little overstrung.
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