“$POSITIONS” is a Gamble that Pays Off
Everyone is one windfall of money away from solving all their problems. The issue with that in today’s world is that this windfall feels a lot closer than it used to be. You used to have to go to Las Vegas or Atlantic City to win it all at a casino. Or win the lottery. Now, with the rise of crypto, stock trading, and gambling, all of which can be accessed with the phone in your pocket, that money feels like it’s right around the corner. It’s what the main character of Brandon Daley’s $POSITIONS is chasing, and what leads him down a nightmarish path.
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Mike (Michael Kunicki) is barely keeping his head above water. The beginning of his bad day/week is when he has to take his disabled brother, Vinny (Vinny Kress), to work with him because they’re behind on payments for his daytime care facility. Always in the back of his mind, no matter what Mike is doing, is the total in his crypto wallet. Over the course of the film, that number shoots sky high and plummets to the depths. The erratic nature of the crypto coin’s worth mirrors Mike’s increasingly manic behavior as he runs across town and back, desperate to find a little more money.
While it feels simplistic to compare $POSITIONS to a Safdie Brothers’ film (they were not the first to make anxiety-inducing films), the comparison is apt. Less so stylistically, but more because of its doomed main character. The viewer can see it from a mile away. Mike has the same glimmer in his eye as Uncut Gems’ Howard Ratner has when he says the memorable, “This is how I win.” We all know Mike isn’t winning, but he can’t see that. The rising crypto earnings cloud his judgement, light up his eyes, and make him more erratic. Once he’s had a taste of winning, he can’t help himself.
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At first, $POSITIONS is fun. Sure, it’s mayhem and chaos, but it’s easy to find humor in Mike’s actions. He hasn’t lost it all…yet. That’s the turn of the screw. Eventually, $POSITIONS isn’t something to be laughed at. It’s a cautionary tale about gambling addiction wrapped in the slick stylings of a Safdie-inspired flick. It’s not just the fact that Mike digs himself into a deep hole throughout the film, it’s that he takes others along with him. That’s what makes it difficult to swallow as a comedy. It’s not a knock against $POSITIONS, it’s a compliment that the movie is able to subtly make that shift. Beneath its recklessness is a portrait of a modern American who longs to be in a place financially where every day doesn’t feel like a struggle. Mike may want some lavish things, but more than that is a desire to be able to afford to exist without debt and bills chasing after him.
$POSITIONS is funny and frightening. Daley’s script allows space for wacky moments like a choreographed dance sequence beneath the opening credits, while also crafting a story about a very real slippery slope many people have found themselves on. He may have taken some inspiration from the anxiety filmmakers extraordinaire, but Daley’s $POSITIONS is wholly his vision, as manic and alarming as that may be.
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