$POSITIONS (2026)

Imagine if Josh Safdie directed a Napoleon Dynamite-style absurdist comedy

$POSITIONS doesn’t always know what it wants to be. Within the film’s first few minutes, we get a choreographed dance by blue-collar factory workers. The lead character, Mike (Michael Kunicki) is, for all intents and purposes, an idiot, and not entirely likable, either. Nobody in his stratosphere acts like they’re of this world, including his girlfriend, Charlene (Kaylyn Carter), or cousin, Travis (Trevor Dawkins). It’s almost Napoleon Dynamite-esque in its absurdity.

Despite all of this, it’s also a really astute and entertaining parody of the addictive nature of cryptocurrency.

When we first meet Mike, he’s already knee-deep in his obsession, eyes glued to the price on his phone while his boss reprimands him for a break room catastrophe involving his disabled brother, Vinny (Vinny Kress). When the price skyrockets, Mike abruptly quits his job and goes on a celebratory joyride, telling his girlfriend he wants an open relationship, reuniting with his recovering addict cousin and visiting his alcoholic father, making promises of better days ahead.

As we follow Mike throughout the day, his eyes are laser-focused on his phone as we see the price jump up and down. When it starts to drop, you want to scream at him through the screen to sell. He doesn’t sell. Of course he doesn’t sell. He’s broke again. He goes to a party to find his girlfriend already very much enjoying their newfound open relationship. His ex-coworkers openly mock him. He’s oblivious. A cartoon character come to life.

It’s been almost a decade since Good Time (2017) was released, introducing a wider audience to the maniacal filmmaking style of Josh Safdie. It’s endlessly apparent that first-time feature director Brandon Daley was inspired by the technique, where the tension within a film’s plot only goes up from beginning to end. It mostly works. Like Safdie’s protagonists, whether it’s Robert Pattinson in Good Time, Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems, or most recently Timothee Chalamet in Marty Supreme, you constantly want to reach through the screen, grab Mike by the shoulders, and scream in his face to do the logical thing.

That he doesn’t is enraging, but also really works within the context of this absurd story. Even after Mike’s initial brush with a financial windfall, opportunities present themselves on a number of occasions for him to get out of the mess he created for himself. But like a slot jockey who just hit a big payday, the adrenaline is too much to give up. It’s an addiction, Mike is enveloped in it, and win or lose he wants more. He simply can’t get enough.

Not everything Daley attempts fully works. There’s some technical clunkiness, and in some of the more chaotic scenes, he sometimes tries to pack so many jokes into one moment that none are allowed to land.

But the guts of this film are solid. It’s a really clever satire of a subject that’s only becoming more prevalent in our lives.