Based on a slightly true story, Cold Wallet is a clever thriller from Cutter Hodierne. Cold Wallet marks Hodierne’s new feature is a dazzling and taut home invasion story with a twist.
Beginning at Christmas, Cold Wallet follows Redditor Billy (Raúl Castillo) as his dreams crumble around him after he becomes a victim of a cryptocurrency scam. Bereft at being swindled out of his money, Billy, along with his friend Dom (Tony Cavalero) and fellow Redditor, Eva (Melonie Diaz), embark on a revenge mission. Realising the man who cost them a small fortune is on their doorstep, the threesome storm his house in hopes of righting his wrong.
Typically within a film with a home invasion set-up, it is the homeowner, not the perpetrators whom the audience are linked to. Here Hodierne takes the opposite stance with interesting results. Similarly, their target, Charles (Josh Brener), seems fairly unperturbed by Billy and co’s arrival. He has an eerie calm to him and spends his incarceration trying to turn the three invaders against each other. It’s a clever tactic that makes for an intriguing narrative. Rather than being an action-packed cat and mouse affair, Cold Wallet is more cerebral. The bulk of the story plays out in these scenes in which Charlie tries to bribe his way out. It presents a great opportunity to demonstrate each person’s character and morals; trying to figure out will cave is fascinating.
Hodierne’s cast all do exemplary work, with Josh Brener worthy of note. For many he is better known as playing Big Head in television series SIlicon Valley. The character was nice but incredibly dim. Here, Brener is portraying cunning and intelligent. He believes himself smarter and better than the trio and his privilege contrasts with their lack of opportunities to present a modern day iteration of the class war. Depending on your social standing, one could perhaps see either camp as the hero, though an overwhelming degree of the audience will align themselves with Billy, Dom and Eva.
On the technical side of things, Cold Wallet is solid. The shots look great, the production design presents locations far richer than the movie’s budget would have stretched, and the editing is alway fantastic. The run time is perfectly set and the pace never stagnates. If there were to be one wish, it would be that there was a little more character development on each side. The quartet of characters only reveal baseline information, and as such, the chance to capitalise on any true emotion is lost. Thanks to Hodierne’s excellent work in other areas, and the fascinating premise, the audience remained unswayed and will still find plenty to enjoy about Cold Wallet.
Cold Wallet
Summary
Although a tad undercooked emotionally, the pacing and performances when coupled with the interesting premise help keep the audience on Cold Wallet’s side.
Cold Wallet was reviewed at SXSW 2024.
