To honor Labor Day, here's a list of fantastic films that represent a variety of professions. So hit play on Dolly Parton’s 9-5 anthem, microwave a bag of popcorn, and cozy up for a movie night!
For labor organizers:
Produced for PBS' American Playhouse, The Killing Floor explores labor organizing and racial tension at Chicago's Union Stockyards during the Great Migration. Bill Duke's incorporation of archival footage into the dramatic narrative adds to its historicity, excellently capturing Chicago during a tumultuous time.
More films about labor rights: North Country, Silkwood, How Green Was My Valley.
For gig workers:
In Rental Family, Brendan Frasier plays an actor at a Japanese rental family agency. Like a platonic escort, people hire him to fill real-life roles, including weekend gaming buddy and absent father. Inevitably, these transactional relationships generate real emotions, and the separation between client and friend starts to blur. This is a heartwarming dramedy about connection and loneliness.
More films about gig working: A Better Life, The Florida Project, Sorry We Missed You.
Double feature for TV producers who'll do anything for ratings:
In Network, a news anchor's psychotic break leads to a massive spike in viewership. As a ruthless television exec, Faye Dunaway's Diana realizes she can leverage this kind of content into ratings gold. Eager to obliterate the boundary between news, entertainment, and exploitation, is there any line that's too far to cross?
In Nightcrawler, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a freelance journalist who sells crime scene footage to the local news station. The means of acquisition are unimportant - the grislier the content, the higher the ratings. And now that the station depends on his lurid visuals, he can start making demands of his own....
For traders/investors:
From the director of I, Tonya, Dumb Money dives into the Gamestop short squeeze of 2021. After a viral Reddit post causes Gamestop's share price to surge, a David and Goliath battle ensues between Wall Street execs and everyday people. Craig Gillespie utilizes an energetic, multimedia approach that captures internet culture better than any other movie I've seen.
More films about questionable money movement: The Big Short, Enron, The Wolf of Wall Street.
For telemarketers who recognize their place in late stage capitalism but still play the game because they work on commission:
Sorry to Bother You is an unpredictable satire about the way mega corporations work their employees like horses. You can either fight them or join them, but LaKeith Stanfield's Cassius Green is caught in the middle. He takes a telemarketing job for financial survival and quickly ascends by code-switching into a "white voice." But the higher he rises, the more difficult it is to play both sides. And there’s something sinister afoot at this megacorp…
Other films about the capitalist rat race: They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Parasite, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
What workplace film would you recommend?
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