The Big Short portrays one of the greatest economic meltdowns of all time, while keeping the viewer engaged and interested.

The movie takes place in the United States in the years building up to the housing crisis, which peaked in 2008. While the economy is firing on all cylinders, the stock market is booming, and investor optimism fills the air, three groups of financial managers are followed as they look past the excitement of the time and uncover the true state of the economy. The fact that the main characters stories were based off of real life experiences makes the movie even more enticing.

The movie is absolutely loaded with some of today’s most recognizable actors including Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, and Brad Pitt. The actors did an exceptional job at representing the attitudes of their characters and really captured the feelings of fear, doubt, and faith that they felt at the time. Other celebrities such as Selena Gomez and Margot Robbie spice up the movie with minor roles as well.

The three storylines feature different investors that come to the same startling realization that financial collapse is imminent as businessmen look deep into the overlooked financials of the American real estate market. These businessmen who had no connection to each other, all decide to short mortgage bonds, or bet against the market.

The movie incorporates different analogies and brief explanations for what was actually going on inside big banks,so the concepts surrounding the housing crisis are understandable even if the viewer doesn’t know much about the topic. The film is extremely informative like a documentary but has a compelling plot line at the same time.

The movie does a particularly good job at incorporating the culture of the mid 2000s as well. The American society is portrayed in a way that reflects the driving economy and the general optimism at the time as well.

The 2015 film also won an Oscar for best writing and adapted screenplay and was nominated for many more. I would recommend this movie to anyone who may be  interested in learning about one of the most important events in the 21st century. Even if you aren’t interested in business or economics, this movie is still entertaining and informative making it appealing to almost all audiences.