Looking to hit it big on what seemed a great opportunity, Billy invests all his money on the new crypto-currency called “Tulip” and convinces his friend Dom to do the same.

At first everything seems great as Tulip’s stocks rises to the (virtual) skies, but the next morning the tv news reports the death of Charles Hegel, Tulip’s creator, and the stocks plummet, as its also revealed that only Hegel had access to the crypto-currency funds. This leaves Billy, Dom and thousands of other users totally broke overnight.

Desperate and seeing his dreams to buy a home for him and the daughter he is barely allowed to see after his ugly divorce (is there any other kind?), Billy is contacted by Eva, a mysterious Reddit user that also lost all her money due to Tulip. Eva claims that she found evidence that not only is Hegel alive, but is also shacked in a secluded mansion in the woods near their town, waiting to flee the country in a matter of hours.

Eva convinces Billy and Dom that on their shoulders lies the responsibility to capture Hegel and force him to return their money to them. Billy agrees to the plan right away, but Dom, the one with the muscles, (and the noble heart) only agrees to join them if they also give the money back to all the other victims of the scam.

As you might imagine, what was a simple plan for breaking, entering and holding a hostage turns instead into a game of survival and wits. As it turns out Hegel, despite his feeble appearance, is not only a master of manipulation of stocks and imaginary coins, but also of mind games. As the hours go by, Hegel uses every trick in his book to weaponize the desperation and doubts of Billy and his companions, and turn the cards on the table in his favor.

“Cold Wallet” has a lot of great things to offer, but you need to pay attention to the dialogue, not just to follow along with the whole crypto-currency rules (fortunately the writers kept it light for the rest of us), but also understanding the motives and the reactions of some characters and thus having a more clear picture of what is going on.

The pacing of the film is fast and steady, although I felt the tone was kind of unbalanced. The film itself is a thriller, no doubts there, but there is some humor in the first 15-20 minutes that might confuse you and make you think this is a comedy (dark or otherwise).

The main cast did a great job with their performances, and I liked the characters a lot, but two of them stood out for me.

Dom was one of my favorite characters; I liked how he was genuinely trying to keep his good nature and stay cool through the chaos the entire time. He truly was trying to be just and do right by all the scam’s victims and not just for him and Billy. Have you ever heard the phrase “This one is too good for this world”?». Dom is that guy, as you might guess, a lot of the time it does not work out too good for them.

On the other hand, I found Charles Hegel to be another interesting character. At first it looks like just another weak, witty-tongued con man that knows his way with stocks and computers, but is easy to subdue. We quickly see that he has the brains to survive in a very hostile environment, and is even capable of surviving in a tank full of (loan) sharks. What he lacks in muscles, he compensates with charisma and a sharp mind that allows him to quickly identify the weakness in his captors.

On a second viewing, I was wondering if with Dom and Hegel, we were indirectly seeing a more modern version of the rivalry between a noble, strong Superman and a scheming Lex Luthor set in a world of economic corporate warfare, where Luthor is a genius in (just) the world of economics, with no regards for the well being of the common people. Yes… I may be overthinking, but there is a very interesting scene where Hegel has a talk with Dom that might have triggered this thought.

After seeing his portrayal of Charles Hegel, I would love to see Josh Brenner playing Lucifer in a (good) film.

I mentioned how much I enjoyed Dom and Hegel, but in no way that means Raul Castillo (Billy) nor Melonie Diaz (as Eva) do not shine. They also did a great job.

Billy is very easy to relate with. He is someone who THINKS he knows what he is getting in to, and feels he is more clever than he actually is. Billy is that guy that thinks it’s his turn to hit the jackpot and it makes him do things that are questionable. He keeps blaming others for his bad misfortune, instead of accepting accountability, and that sometimes he is his own worst enemy, one that he needs to confront.

Eva, the lady with the contacts in the dark corners of the internet, at first can be annoying, especially because she can come off as a wanna-be boss chick. Fortunately, later on we see her intentions are actually genuine (although very idealistic) and she becomes way more likable. She is the one that gets the information on Hegel and puts the plan in motion, and is the one that understands the technology way better than her other two companions.

Would the plan have worked better had Eva contacted other people instead of Billy and Dom? Probably, but although not bluntly stated, it is clear that Eva does not trust the authorities, that Billy and Dom were the only ones near the location, and that the time to capture Hegel was running out.

There are several things in the movie that happen in the background that you might not catch, but will become important later in the film. I highly recommend you to pay attention to the film, because it will reward you for it. As you know, “The Devil is in the details”.

At the end of the day, “Cold Wallet” is a good thriller with interesting characters, good dialogue and several twists that I found well planned. Just be patient with the first 15-20 minutes. Everything is there for a reason.

“Cold Wallet” was directed by Cutter Hodierne, co-written with John Hibey. In the cast we have Raul Castillo, Melonie Diaz, Tony Cavalero and Josh Brenner.

“Cold Wallet” will be released on Theaters and VOD on February 28^th.