From luxurious lifestyles, opulent mansions, and dreamy cruises to hiding dark secrets and crimes behind wealth, it is clear that the rich always have the power to rule. They seem untouchable, and that’s precisely why the common people love to see their empires crumbling. These movies on the “eat-the-rich” concept deliver that sentiment in stories reeking of class privilege and their cost.
The films reflect the social inequality, the egos of the elite, and the underdog narratives of the middle and lower classes. Well, that’s how the capitalistic world works, and it’s delicious to see the moneyed getting taken down.
15. The Riot Club
‘The Riot Club’ dives into the British class system and shows the disparities between the lives of students in elite educational institutions. Set in Oxford University, the movie takes a thinly veiled inspiration from the real Bullingdon Club. The story revolves around Alistair and Miles, who are new to the university. They join the Riot Club in their first year and go to a party with the rest of the members. Things start to get ugly when nothing goes according to plan, and the boys experience unexpected situations, which eventually mess up everything.
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14. High Rise
Clearly showcasing the class tension between the rich and poor in a literally vertical status system. ‘High Rise’ introduces us to an apartment tower where the top floors are for the rich people and the lower levels are for the have-nots. It is a luxurious and splendid living situation that allows the residents to cut themselves off from the outer world and enjoy within the premises of the home. However, when the infrastructure starts to deteriorate, chaos and violence begin. It’s a dystopian civil war, and survival might just push humanity to the darkest edge.
13. The Housemaid
Many Korean movies reveal a culture where social inequality and discrimination are the norm, depending on your bank balance. ‘The Housemaid’ depicts the same. Eun Yi works as a housemaid in a prestigious family. An affair with her boss pushes her towards tragedy. This relationship ruins peace all around, and everyone starts to suffer in one way or another. The psychological thriller then hits the revenge territory, and what happens in the end is oh-so-deserved.
12. The Purge (2013)
If you are enamoured by nihilistic cinema, ‘The Purge’ gives one night of utter, annual mayhem when all crime is legal. In this film that spawned a successful franchise, James Sandin’s family is held hostage. The irony looms large as the uber-rich man becomes the victim of his own company’s failed security system. It’s a window into humanity’s most deplorable desires, and even money is useless as a shield against it.
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11. The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (2017)
Writer-director Yorgos Lanthimos is a master of making discomforting cinematic gems. This horror thriller movie is about a wealthy surgeon, played by Colin Farrell, whose family life is threatened by the arrival of an odd and honestly creepy teen, Martin. The fatherless boy has his own agenda for inserting himself into the doctor’s pristine suburban paradise. Soon, an inexplicable sickness spreads, and nothing seems blissful.
10. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
The sequel to ‘Knives Out’ is a great murder mystery that critiques the bonkers world of the rich. The story follows Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) on a weird adventure at a billionaire tech genius’s expansive property. A fun game spirals into a real killing when an unexpected person tries to get comeuppance from the egocentric guests.
9. Us
After ‘Get Out,’ Jordan Peele gave us another horrifying watch with ‘Us.’ This one isn’t about racism, but classism. An obnoxiously rich family is hunted down by their own doppelgängers in this mind-boggling and chilling tale. At first, the monstrous versions look merely evil, but we find out the desperate conditions they live in. Their underground community has been shunned by society, and now they have to resort to heinous crimes for resources.
8. Hustlers (2019)
The super-entertaining film is about a group of strippers who scam their wealthy Wall Street clients. And, this actually happened in real life when these women tried to keep themselves afloat amid 2008’s financial collapse. Sure, it’s ludicrous, but the scheme emboldens them as they cash in more and more, preying on the rich, in a system that was crafted to keep them at the bottom.
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7. Saltburn
‘Saltburn’ is about the fascinating mix of privilege and perversion, exactly what you might expect from an ‘eat the rich’ narrative. We meet the wealthy Catton family who spend their summer sunning on their sprawling estate, and partying in their gilded manor. However, a mysterious man named Oliver becomes hell-bent on their downfall, masquerading as a friend to their aristocratic son. But the lines of obsession blur, and we realise there is much more rotting under the weight of generational wealth, which ends with the spilling of blood.
6. Knives Out
‘Knives Out’ is undoubtedly a killer mystery thriller franchise. Yeah, pun intended. The original film served a terrific cast, masterclass storytelling, and well-executed twists. But beneath the classic whodunit tale, it’s a commentary on the eccentric and deplorable world of the rich. We meet notable crime novelist Harlan Thrombey, who turns up dead after turning 85. As Detective Benoit Blanc investigates the case, we find out how ethics are traded for money and power, and exploitation becomes the name of the game, even in the topmost layer of the food chain.
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5. Ready Or Not
‘Ready or Not’ carries eat-the-rich concept perfectly with its amazing plot. The dark comedy movie is about a young woman trying to fit into a wealthy family after marriage. While everything seems very golden and happy from the outside, sinister rituals go on inside. Grace Le Domas is shocked when she has to participate in a twisted hide-and-seek game on her wedding night. With her life in danger as her in-laws hunt her down, she has to kill or be killed. Oh well, the rich and their sins!
4. Snowpiercer (2013)
The train in ‘Snowpiercer’ is a microcosm of the global capitalist society. A series of environmental disasters and climate change have rendered the Earth uninhabitable, and the survivors remain on a train that runs forever. Here, the rigid housing system is such that the underprivileged are crammed in the back in squalid conditions, while the upper-class have almost every luxury imaginable. So, a revolt ensues where a commoner named Curtis tries to reach the front and take on the ruling class.
3. Triangle Of Sadness
‘Triangle of Sadness’ takes on a lavish yacht with the wealthy guests enjoying the time of their lives, while the working class remains at their beck and call. Things change for the worse when they are stranded on an island, and each must survive against nature itself. The class dynamics begin to shift, as the cushiony existence of the elite turns into a nightmare, and a girl from the staff rises to take charge. The movie is utterly chaotic and unforgettable.
2. The Menu
‘The Menu’ is a suspenseful and thrilling story with a pinch of dark comedy. The movie shows a group of rich people being invited to a high-end, prestigious restaurant on a deserted island. The chef, Julian Slowik, has prepared a lavish menu boasting fine-dining courses. But behind the fancy facade, a dark secret lingers, which surprises and terrifies everyone.
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1. Parasite
This Oscar-winning South Korean film has one of the craziest and most brainiac plots. Showcasing the rich-poor divide within the Park household and their staff, the Kims, ‘Parasite‘ is undoubtedly a modern classic. The Kims live in a decrepit basement apartment, forever haunted by their financial struggles. They all slowly penetrate the world of the Parks under the guise of working for them, and eventually dismantle their entire lives. Yeah, the tables turn, and the class warfare was never this epic on screen.
