Margin Call

Margin Call follows a large investment bank (akin to Lehman Brothers), going through a standard process of reducing its pool of workers. Experienced Risk Manager, Eric (Tucci), is one of those to get the axe, and hands over his project to Peter (Quinto) with the warning “be careful”. Respecting his former colleague, Peter completes the analysis discovering historically high volatility at levels that could lead to the crashing of the bank. Paul has no choice but to call in the Departmental Head, Sam (Spacey).

We witness the rapid escalation of the matter throughout the night, passing through senior management and onto John Tuld (Irons), the group CEO, who must take whatever steps he can to ensure the company remains a step ahead of the markets.

The brilliant ensemble perform admirably, with Spacey, Quinto, Bettany and Irons all on top form. That no one character dominates the screen adds to the sense of universal panic. The shooting was carried out in a recently vacated trading floor, adding to the realism. J.C. Chandor has produced a masterpiece for his first feature, rightly winning awards for Best Debut and Original Screenplay.

Margin Call gives a real sense of what happened in an extremely short and hectic time at major banks across the world. The actions taken show the panic of the traders, the calculating nature of the Board and the shock amongst the wider market. Margin Call is a fine piece of independent drama and an absolute must for those with an interest in big business.