BITCON -- A Good Concept Wasted by a Generic Script

Review by Sean Boelman

With the financial revolution leading to a rise in the popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, it was only a matter of time before we got a Bitcoin-centric heist movie. Unfortunately, Bitcon is not the exciting crypto heist some may have been hoping for, as its derivative storyline and underdeveloped characters prevent it from doing anything interesting.

The film follows a group of people who go on a search for a hard drive containing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cryptocurrency. Although the crypto angle might scare some away, no one in the film seems to really understand what cryptocurrency is anyway, so it won’t make a difference if you don’t get it either.

For a heist movie, you’d think that there would be a killer heist sequence in the film, but that isn’t the case. What had the potential to be a metaverse Ocean’s Eleven turns into yet another movie about a bunch of people running around looking for a hard drive. It makes one wonder if the only reason they used Bitcoin as a MacGuffin was to get extra clicks.

There is also no character development to be found in this film. The characters aren’t even developed as archetypes — they are left as pure stereotypes. No one has a motivation that is strong enough to be a compelling emotional core for the film, and it’s really hard to create any stakes in the story as a result.

​Because of these two things combined, the film comes across as extraordinarily dull and boring. Not only will the viewer be bored by the generic storyline, but they will also find themselves not caring about anyone in the central story or the subplots. Perhaps what the film could have used is a team/group dynamic to drive it forward.

Like many B-movies, the cast is full of no-names with a few recognizable faces in the supporting cast. The biggest star is probably Tom Cavanagh, whose role is negligible both in terms of length and memorability. In fact, the only actor who seems to know the type of movie he’s in is Jeremy Davies, who gives an admirably unhinged and moderately entertaining performance.

Surprisingly enough, the film isn’t poorly made. The production value of the film isn’t outstanding or particularly creative, but it’s professional enough that it could pass as a legitimate film if it had the screenplay to go along with it. The only noticeable exception is the soundtrack, which feels like it’s full of stock music.

Bitcon isn’t as bad as it could have been, but it also doesn’t take advantage of its potential to have been an interesting spin on familiar tropes. As it stands, it’s not a terrible film by any means, but there also isn’t much of a reason to recommend it.

Bitcon hits VOD on August 18.

Rating: 2/5