The latest poker movie is slated for release next month. "Dead Money" is directed by Luc Walpoth and stars Emile Hirsch and India Eisley. Hirsch portrays a professional poker in the middle of a downswing who gets caught up with a criminal element after a poker game gets robbed. "Dead Money" is slated for release on September 13 in theaters and via video on demand (VOD).
We love poker movies. Even bad ones. There hasn't been too many good ones in recent years with the exception of "Mississippi Grind," which came out more than a decade ago. "Mississippi Grind" was more of a buddy film and road movie that happens to take place in the gambling world. It's still one of my favorites, but it also reminds hard-core poker players and cinephiles that it's nearly impossible to pull off a good poker movie.
Russell Crowe was the headliner in the most recent poker movie, "Poker Face," that debuted in 2022. In that film, a home game robbery goes sideways and insanity ensues. It scored a lowly 9% on Rotten Tomatoes and failed to impress the poker community. Two years later, there's another poker movie with a home-game robbery theme.
"Dead Money" is written by Josh Wilcox who previously wrote the screenplay to the 2022 film "Dead by Midnight (Y2Kill)." The gory horror-thriller had a catchy secondary title. Luc Walpoth directed "Dead Money," and he's most known for "Baby Money" (2021) and "Peripheric Love" (2023).
Emile Hirsch is the big draw for "Dead Money." The actor has played some iconic roles in "Lords of Dogstown" (2005), "Alpha Dog"(2006), "Into the Wild" (2007), "Speed Racer" (2008), "Milk"(2008), "Lone Survivor" (2013), and "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (2019). His work as Jay Sebring in Quentin Tarantino's last film was critically acclaimed.
According to the trailer, Hirsch is a pro who is down on his luck and just needs one good session to get his mojo back. One night, a home game gets robbed, which sets forth a series of violent and tragic events. Since the screenplay was written by a horror specialist, we can only assume there will be lots of bloodshed.
Speaking of blood, we have a fondness for "The Card Counter." The 2021 film was written and directed by Paul Schrader ("Taxi Driver") and featured Oscar Isaac playing an ex-military interrogator turned pro gambler. He's struggling with PTSD due to his intense involvement with the War on Terror and spends a lot of time migrating from casino to casino trying to stay under the radar counting cards at the blackjack tables while playing a little poker on the side. Tiffany Haddish stood out in her small role as a poker player.
By the way... "Win It All" is probably a poker movie you had no idea existed. Joe Swanberg is an indie film director from Chicago most known for his small budget mumblecore flicks in which the actors do a lot of improvising. Wanberg did a good job with his 2017 film about a degen gambler. It's not really a poker movie, but has a couple of poker scenes, and the main character is a former member of Gamblers Anonymous who plays blackjack at an illegal casino in Chinatown.
Here's the trailer for "Dead Money"....