$POSITIONS is the debut feature by Brandon Daley, after his three short films: Savasana (2015), Chicken Tuesdays (2017), and Technology Lake: Meditations on Death and Sex (2019). In his first feature directorial effort, the director explores the world of cryptocurrencies and the allure of making easy money online. He sets this story in Kansas, where Mike (Michael Kunicki) takes care of his special needs brother, Vinny (Vinny Kress). After finding that they cannot afford the facility that supports his younger brother, Mike decides to ask for the deposit enrollment fee and buy crypto. This bet pays off, and Mike makes thirty thousand dollars in a few minutes. In the bliss of financial success, he quits his job as a blue-collar man and glances at the virtual coins as his opportunity to fly to the top of the social pyramid.
The director sets the tone of this journey on a tragicomical approach, where the miserable protagonist constantly fails due to his auto-sabotage traits. Consequently, it is irresistible not to compare the story’s structure to a Coen Brothers film, especially in the similarity of their sarcastic and violent storytelling about the failure of the main characters. In this sense, Daley borrows from the influential directors the ability to craft an unfriendly and awkward lead character. Mike is irresponsible towards the care of his brother, and he is romantically unavailable to his girlfriend Charlene (Kaylyn Carter), and also wears a faux-moralistic approach towards the substance use of his community, either alcohol or marijuana. He is proud to state that he would never use any of those drugs. Hence, the film portrays the contradictions and risks that a person is willing to take to get rich and climb the economic ladder.
Besides, it is not its central priority, the film draws a sometimes fascinating subtextual analysis of the post-capitalist reality we live in. Mike and his father have a complicated relationship; his mother passed away, and his dad is an alcoholic. However, his dependence leads him to a terrifying domestic accident, indeed, a hyperbolic situation involving a radiator, leading him to a full-time facility care in a hospital. Intentionally, the script by Daley uses the hospital situation to provoke despair in the character’s emotional faculty. He lost his thirty grand, his father is in a life-threatening situation, and he receives the information that the insurance is not covering all of the costs. In this sense, the hospital bill weighs like an anvil in his financial situation. Similarly to how it is for thousands of families, Mike is losing himself in the middle of an unfair health system.
Consequently, the director aims to portray the protagonist’s despair and lack of self-control. When he has the money, he is the boldest man alive; he pays for the best meals for his former colleagues, and he goes with his cousin to the strip club and pays for everything. He even suggests opening his relationship with Charlene. However, when the thrill is gone, we see a miserable man gambling with crypto to fulfill his necessities of a decent life, and the urge to support his brother. Yet, it lacks the development of Vinny as a character, not only as a narrative motivation. In the feel-bad comedies, a broader genre for the more frontal and sarcastic comic films, the audience needs to connect with the lead character to sympathize with them in their lowest moments. Mike is not this type of character, even though he has a compelling backstory: he is a blue-collar orphan responsible for his special needs brother, but his selfish nature prevents us from connecting deeply with him.
Eventually, $POSITIONS lands in the middle. It is an accurate and engaging portrayal of the dangers of unregulated cryptocurrencies and how their volatility influences people’s lives. In this sense, it utilizes comedy to exaggerate and portray the comedic absurdity of the unreliable investment that makes millions of people lose money yearly. Therefore, it is also a precise commentary on the problematic structure of the American health system and how it affects the financial stability of its population. Thus, the film prevents a deeper connection with a miserable and pesky central character, drawing away our sympathy towards his pains and anguish.
Finally, it is a compelling first feature by Brandon Daley, who displays a tragicomical structure to comment on the 2020s Americana, the addictions, and problems of the Midwest Americans. It is not entirely successful as a satirical comedy, but it has its moments of fascinating discussions on a modern crisis.
$POSITIONS recently screened at the Fantasia International Film Festival.
Learn more about the film at the Fantasia site for the title.
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