The action/crime thriller Cold Wallet, directed by Cutter Hodierne and co-written with writer John Hibey after a previous collaboration on the film Fishing Without Nets, will now have a release. This feature film premiered at the 2024 SXSW Film & Television Festival. Some folks may find this film about a cryptocurrency scam timely, given articles in the media. It will be in theaters and Digital on February 28th, 2025.
Raúl Castillo (Smile 2, Cassandro) stars as Billy, divorced from Eileen (Zoe Winters, Succession), and a proud father to Steph (Joanna Sylvie Weinig). He aspires to purchase a home for his daughter to be comfortable and happy for future visitations. He plans to make money from the cryptocurrency exchange site called Tulip to buy the home. Billy also encourages his close friend Dom (Tony Cavalero, The Righteous Gemstones) to invest. The partying and plans halt when a media announcement states the head of the site, Charles Hegel (Josh Brener, Silicon Valley), died. Those familiar with cryptocurrency exchange (and new investors like Billy) learn that their Tulip accounts crashed and now have zero balances.
Raúl Castillo is great in his performance with his wide range of emotional skills – happy as a father, raging in anger with his ex-wife who belittles him in front of others, and distraught as his goals go up in smoke suddenly. Shaken but unwilling to accept an empty account, he teams up with Eva (Melonie Diaz, “Charmed” TV series, Fruitvale Station), a fellow Redditor who believes Hegel faked his death. Her sources provide an address to his hideout, and the pair take Dom with them to collect what is theirs and all other investors.
The story is good, and the performances of the four main characters are solid enough for the audience to understand what loss feels like. Brener is great in the performance of a horrible attitude as the Tulip cryptocurrency account “boss” especially when he manipulates a conversation with each of the three characters who confronted him in his home. It is excellent to see Melonie Diaz once again in a film after various TV shows and see her grow throughout the years after I first learned of her in Raising Victor Vargas (2002 and Lords of Dogtown (2005). Of course, viewing Castillo’s talent on screen (and on stage, as I saw him in theater performances before television and feature films) is always a pleasure.
The three investors are in too deep after planning the home invasion. Their plan is not the smartest to begin with, and some of the scenes may require a stretch of imagination for them to work. Viewers may have to dispense with the reality of the cameras that would have typically been in place, a guardian on the premises, and other details not mentioned now. The film takes on a different level of tension when Eva hears a message on Hegel’s cell phone while Hegel manages to cut himself loose. Let the stalking begin, and see who the last person standing is.
Running Time: 84 minutes and Rated R
Source: Well Go USA Entertainment