Film: Traders

These out-of-hours films on telly sure can be quirky. There were actually a few things I could happily have watched, at one point earlier tonight - but the summary for this film caught my eye. Not really what you'd expect, Traders was described as follows: "An unemployed man gets drawn into a game in which people sell their possessions and fight each other to the death." Hmm. Couldn't really shake my curiosity over this - so I watched it.

Now, I had missed the first few minutes - but it seems that the description is slightly off; Killian Murphy does indeed get drawn into this game, but he ain't unemployed. The guy who draws him in is unemployed - but he has actually designed the game. Oh, and it's not really a game - not the way he looks at it. anyway. More of, well, a commodity to trade in!

So, the premise is that there's a sort of classified ads page on the dark web, where you can sign up to trade, advertising what you're willing to offer. Someone accepts the offer, you meet at an agreed location - in this case, they all seem to use the same pub. Each has the same amount of cash, in a green bag (apparently, green sports bags are the most common type). So, if you want a more valuable trade, you need to fund it by selling something. You repair to a quiet location to do a body search of each other, checking for guns, which aren't allowed as they make too much noise. Other weapons are fine. You each write a suicide note, to make your potential demise less suspicious. You swap phones, to prevent either of you calling anyone.

You both then take three buses - each person in turn chooses a random number, and you travel that number of stops. You get off somewhere remote, help each other to dig a grave (in which one of you will be buried), and after that, anything goes. The survivor buries the loser in the grave, and takes both bags.

Gee, sounds charming, eh? Actually, it is.. another Irish offering, with Killian Murphy proving a very sympathetic character. Frankly, I wouldn't work in his day job either - both he and the other guy were just recently fired from financial jobs, and while he now has a much lower-paid job, the other guy hasn't found anything. So he develops this business idea, but he's hilariously annoying and clueless - he starts by suggesting they fight each other, but he's obviously unsuited to it. And it's actually quite believable, with Murphy starting off appalled, but gradually getting more used to it - you suspect that he agrees in the first place, mainly out of a need to pay the mortgage, but partly to have the chance to kill this annoying guy! A completely non-cliched plot keeps us interested. And it sure is interesting to see how the story develops, as the website proves incredibly popular.. Recommended!

Early tomorrow afternoon, Up in the Cheap Seats are seeing - ooh - Andrew Scott, in Sea Wall. Wouldn't you know it, this is the one - written specifically for him - that I missed, back in 2018! By minutes! Because of moving into my new flat, and I'd bought an expensive ticket 'n' all. Two minutes over, and they wouldn't let me into the Old Vic, and had nowhere for me to watch on screen. Tsk. Well, another I finally get to see.. and am really looking forward to. And I'll have just as good a view as I would have had on that occasion!

Later that afternoon, London Social Detours (LSD) has an online game of hangman! Well-known play or book titles, which we have to suggest.. I'll have to get thinking!

Monday, of course, sees another round of the London Literary Walks quiz.

And next Saturday, back with LSD for an NPG talk on Richard III.. specifically, on what a famous portrait of him can tell us about his true character..