Who amongst us would not be attracted to millions and billions of dollars and luxurious Casas? No one that is, except maybe saints and insane people! The demand for money is like the incoming waves of the sea. One doesn’t stop wanting it, even if they have trillions in their banks! And we, the middle class and its variants, have always been in awe of the untouchable platinum-wrapped lives of the multimillionaires. So, it is not surprising that movies about rich people do well.
11 of the best movies about rich people
1. Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
- Genre: Romcom, drama
- Director: Jon M. Chu
- Cast: Constance Wu, Henry Golding
- IMDb: 6.9
Plot:
Inspired by a novel, this film revolves around a pretty Economics teacher going to meet her boyfriend’s family members for the first time. The catch is the family is full of filthy rich people, some of whom do not approve of the working-class professor.
Trivia:
Did you know Awkwafina (who recently shot to fame with her outing in the Marvel movie Shang Chi) improvised almost all of her lines in this movie?
2. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
- Genre: Biography, Crime
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Cast: Leonardo Dicaprio, Margot Robbie
- IMDb: 8.2
Plot:
This life focuses on the story of the famous Jordan Belfort and his rise from a middle-class door-to-door salesman to the wolf of wall street. The movie shows his extravagant lifestyle, dabble in corruption and embezzlement, and eventual downfall.
Trivia:
Did you know that in the party scenes where the characters are seen snorting cocaine, they inhale crushed vitamin B tablets?
3. Limitless (2011)
- Genre: Science fiction
- Director: Neil Burger
- Cast: Bradley Cooper, Anna Friel, Robert De Niro
- IMDb: 7.4
Plot:
A struggling writer gets his hands on a new drug that gives him superhuman abilities by letting him access the total capacity of his brain. He becomes a rich and accomplished man, all thanks to the drug. But it has side effects where he loses memory for a substantial amount of time and eventually falls into a coma. There begins a race for the drug as several parties want to get their hands on it.
Trivia:
The character Cooper plays writes a book called Illuminating the Dark Fields, which is similar in name to the actual book The Dark Fields. This book by Glynn is the one this movie is based on.
4. The Social Network (2010)
- Genre: Biography, Technology, Drama
- Director: David Fincher
- Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake
- IMDb: 7.8
Plot:
This Movie about rich people focuses on the story of a few college students at Harvard who created Facebook and became a billionaire. Yes, it is the story of the young man Mark Zuckerberg who co-created the social network giant Facebook with co-founder Eduardo Saverin and all the shenanigans that occurred when Saverin sued Zuckerberg.
Trivia:
Natalie Portman is an alumnus of Harvard University, where she got her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. The screenplay writer Aaron Sorkin had approached Portman to get insider info about Harvard’s campus and inner workings while writing for this movie.
5. Pretty Woman (1990)
- Genre: Romcom, drama
- Director: Garry Marshall
- Cast: Julia Roberts, Richard Gere
- IMDb: 7.1
Plot:
This movie is like a fairy tale come true: the poor young woman meets the brooding rich man, and they fall in love with each other! This one has Richard Gere play a wealthy man who meets a pretty, unconventional hooker, played by Roberts and hires her as his escort. However, despite their class differences, they fall in love!
Trivia:
Did you know that in all the scenes where Edward Lewis is playing the piano, it is Richard Gere playing his own compositions?
6. All Good Things (2010)
- Genre: Thriller, Crime, Mystery, Drama
- Director: Andrew Jarecki
- Cast: Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst
- IMDb: 6.3
Plot:
All good things come to an end. That is exactly what this movie portrays. A young couple who fall in love gets married and starts their own business, a quaint little food joint for healthy snacks. A perfect American dream, right? But their peace doesn’t last long as they return to their husband’s wealthy families. Things start to go wrong as the wife notices the strange behaviors of the husband, and their marriage starts falling apart.
Trivia:
This movie about rich people is inspired by the real-life story of Robert Durst, who got convicted after his wife’s disappearance. However, to this day, there has not been any conclusive evidence of what happened to her.
7. Trading Places (1983)
- Genre: Comedy, Mark Twain Classic, Drama
- Director: John Landis
- Cast: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd
- IMDb: 7.5
Plot:
This movie is based on the famous novel The Prince and the Pauper written by Mark Twain. The story also serves as a social commentary on the class differences and rich man – poor man divide in the early 1980s. The born wealthy stock broker Winthorpe, who enjoys success in all aspects of life, gets his life exchanged with the homeless dirt poor trickster Valentine.
Trivia:
Do you know in Eddie Murphy’s famous film Coming to America, the villainous Duke brothers of this film make appearances?
8. All the Money in the World (2017)
- Genre: Crime, Biography, Drama
- Director: Ridley Scott
- Cast: Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer
- IMDb: 6.8
Plot:
A teenager gets kidnapped, and his rich billionaire grandfather refuses to pay his ransom. The mother tries her best to get the money but cannot. Watch the film to discover why the wealthy old man refused to spare the money.
Trivia:
Do you know this is a real-life story of the Paul Getty family?
9. The Great Gatsby (2013)
- Genre: Romance, Drama, Classic
- Director: Baz Luhrmann
- Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire
- IMDb: 7.2
Plot:
Based on Fitzgerald’s classic novel of the same name, this movie revolves around a self-made billionaire Jay Gatsby and his unrequited love. A trader on wall street, Nick gets drawn to Gatsby and his life which ultimately has a tragic ending.
Trivia:
Before Luhrmann, Martin Scorsese was interested in adapting this novel for the screens but then moved his focus to the Wolf on Wall Street.
10. Knives Out (2019)
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Dark comedy
- Director: Rian Johnson
- Cast: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana De Armas
- IMDb: 7.9
Plot:
This film boasts of a star-studded cast who play the members of a wealthy Thrombey family. Their patriarch gets murdered, and a detective is called to solve it. All of the colorful family members are suspects! This film is one of the few times when the golden boy of Hollywood, Chris Evans, is in a negative role.
Trivia:
For fans of the detective Benoit Blanc, there is good news as he is coming back in a sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
11. Parasite (2019)
- Genre: Thriller, Drama
- Director: Bong Joon Ho
- Cast: Song Kang-Ho, Lee Sun-Kyun
- IMDb: 8.5
Plot:
Last but not at all least, this South Korean film picked up four Academy Awards at the 2020 Oscars. This film showcases the difference in the lifestyles of the privileged rich upper class and the menial working class. The film drives home the point that a whim easily ignored by rich people might be a life-death matter for a poor man.
Trivia:
Did you know the entire film was shot in just 77 days?
This list has some things for everyone. Choose your favorite genre and sit back to watch the stories and shenanigans in the lives of billionaires!
