Mal negocio

As Episode 1 of "King of Stonks" (2022 release from Germany; 6 episodes of about 47 min each) opens, we are introduced to Felix, the VP of Technology at CableCash, digital payment platform whose biggest client is the provider of porno sites. Felix reports to Magnus Cramer, the CEO with a dubious past. The company is working towards an IPO. What could go wrong?

Couple of comments: this German mini-series is inspired by the true story of Wirecard AG, which unraveled in spectacular fashion a few years ago. "King of Stonks" is immediately reminiscent of "The Dropout", as both startups built a house of cards and then it's just a matter of time to see it all come crashing down. Two thoughts: (1) in a way it's reassuring to see that this happens not just in the US, as it exposes a universal human condition (greed), and (2) I found "The Dropout" to be the slightly better mini-series, resulting from the towering performance of Amanda Seyfried. That said, "House of Stonks" is wildly entertaining in its own right. I can't say that I was familiar with anyone in the cast or in the series production team.

"King of Stonks" premiered on Netflix this week, and all 6 episodes are now streaming. I binged it watching 3 episodes on 2 consecutive evenings. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly it all flew by, a sure sign that enjoyed watching this. If you watched "The Dropout" and liked it, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion, as "King of Stonks" revisits familiar territory but now in a European setting,

Based losely on the story of the biggest german financial Scandal of the Fintech Wirecard (Just google Wirecard.... ) mixed with Wolf of Walstreet elements. Painfully grotesk and extremely entertaining if you know the Back story.

I felt the story was all over the place, and the editing only emphasized that. It felt chaotic at all times, and the story and the characters are shallow and lacking substance, and I think the producer knows that, so they try to spice it up with fast phasing so that the viewer doesn't get too bored.

There are many series that claim to satirise modern rich. Be it tech, real estate, media...... and most fail. This one delivers fine enough show.

It can be described "how to sell BS and have everybody claim it's their favourite perfume". Show tends to jump between interconnected plots, but that's what makes it good. It's never a dull moment and just when you think something will end because there is nothing more to say you get hit with a twist, a surprise or shocking revelation.

Yes, some plots are far fetched and out there and some things get resolved quickly because writers painted themselves in a corner but overall it's immensely watchable and fun.

I didn't miss "depth" - especially not that one permanently pregnant with meaning and underscored in minor by strings, so many German movies and series are dripping with.

Hey, this series is a bit imperfect in some way, yes, but it's entertaining. I was stunned sometimes and sometimes laughing a lot. On the one hand it seems to be very exaggerated behaviours and dialogues, but on the other one especially this feels painfully real knowing quite some bosses and employees and working conditions, which are not very dissimilar to those in the show.

My conclusion: This mini-series is good to binge and doesn't feel like almost five hours length all in all. I'd wish more German productions to be made that way. My dispair and shame regarding the general condition of German film would be less then.