If you tune into a business movie tonight, you can learn something new.
I’m talking about real stories about real people’s successful businesses, from startups struggling to make a mark to entrepreneurs with big ideas. Sure, some of these films are glamorized for Hollywood, but they’re packed full of lessons.
You can tap into corporate ethics, how to handle financial crises, and the spirit of innovation.
The next time you’re scrolling through Netflix, wondering what you’ll watch, check out the films I have for you today. They’re recommended for professionals, business students, and entrepreneurs. You’ll take away great lessons and inspiration.
Table of Contents
Top Business Movies and Their Lessons
Are you ready to start watching? The following films, a mix of current and older, touch on areas like technology and innovation, biographies, financial markets and crises, corporate drama, and startups and entrepreneurship.
Let’s get into it!
1. Startup.com (2001)
Synopsis
A 2001 documentary, Startup.com is directed by Jehane Noujaim and Chris Hegedus. It examines the internet revolution in its state in the early 2000s. The movie focuses on two friends who create govWorks.com, starting a business with more than 250 employees and obtaining $60 million in business funding. However, when the internet bubble bursts, the company doesn’t survive.
Key Business Themes: Startups and entrepreneurialism, corporate drama, financial markets and crises, biographical
Why It’s a Must-Watch
Although it focuses on the long-ago dot-com bubble, Startup.com is still worth watching, as startups today have just as hard of a road ahead of them as any company did in the early 2000s. It’s a bit of a sad watch, teaching you why you shouldn’t cash out founding partners too fast and why someone can be a great friend but not a good business partner.
2. Dumb Money (2023)
Synopsis
Craig Gillespie directs this recent film, based on Ben Mezrich’s book The Antisocial Network. The film—which stars big names like Seth Rogen, Sebastian Stan, Nick Offerman, America Ferrara, and Pete Davidson—covers the GameStop stock short squeeze in early 2021 and the mixed bag of results that follow. Some of the characters in the movie live an extended life of luxury, while others end up ensconced in lawsuits.
Key Business Themes: Biographical, financial markets and crises, corporate drama
Why It’s a Must-Watch
Besides its star-studded cast, Dumb Money is worth watching to learn the consequences of hopping aboard a stock trend. While some of the characters in the movie made it out scot-free, others, like Seth Rogen’s character Gabe Plotkin, ended up having to shut down his business due to the net losses of investing in GameStop stock.
3. Moola (2007)
Synopsis
This Don Most-directed film starring Charlotte Ross, Treat Williams, and William Mapother is based on a true story. Two friends forge a business opportunity and must compete against mega-corporations to succeed.
Key Business Themes: Corporate drama, entrepreneurialism and startups
Why It’s a Must-Watch
How about a business movie wrapped up in the guise of a comedy? You will also get a few chuckles as you learn valuable corporate lessons while watching this film. Moola is good for that!
4. House of Gucci (2021)
Synopsis
The biographical story of Patrizia Reggiani’s rise as part of fashion brand Gucci is directed by Ridley Scott and stars Adam Driver and Lady Gaga. When Patrizia meets Maurizio Gucci, the Gucci heir, they fall in love. Although Maurizio’s family is wary of Patrizia at first, saying she’s just in it for the money, when she becomes pregnant, that changes. However, there’s a lot of betrayal and even murder ahead.
Key Business Themes: Biographical, financial markets and crises, corporate drama
Why It’s a Must-Watch
This business movie took the world by storm when it came out, and rightfully so. House of Gucci is a fascinating watch into how one outsider worms her way into a high-end business family and how it eventually ends. I won’t spoil it for you, as you should watch it for yourself!
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5. Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005)
Synopsis
Walmart, the major retail chain, is not without controversy, which this documentary from Robert Greenwald explores. The documentary showcases real stories of Walmart employees and small businesses that have been pushed out of cities and towns nationwide in exchange for more Walmarts.
Key Business Themes: Biographical, financial markets and crises, corporate drama
Why It’s a Must-Watch
This documentary spotlights how some towns have managed to ban Walmarts from opening and maintaining their charm and mom-and-pop businesses.
6. BlackBerry (2023)
Synopsis
Matt Johnson directs this 2023 documentary about BlackBerry phones, based on the book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry by Sean Silcoff and Jacquie McNish. The doc explores how BlackBerry was created, the hostile takeover of RIM (a competitor company), and the impact of the iPhone on BlackBerry.
Key Business Themes: Innovation and technology, biographical, financial markets and crises, corporate drama, entrepreneurialism and startups
Why It’s a Must-Watch
Besides touching on major business themes, BlackBerry explores a device that many of us owned back in the day and have since forgotten about. You can see how the rise and fall of the phone technology pushed businesspeople to the brink.
7. Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Synopsis
The black comedy and biography Wolf of Wall Street, directed by Terence Winter and Martin Scorsese, stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort, a young New Yorker working as a stockbroker on Wall Street in 1987. After losing his job due to the stock market plummet on Black Monday, he finds another job and co-founds a brokerage company with a friend.
The company experiences massive success, but all is not what it seems. With the FBI on his tail for how his company makes its money, all the success and lavishness come crashing down.
Key Business Themes: Biographical, financial markets and crises, corporate drama, entrepreneurship and startups
Why It’s a Must-Watch
The Wolf of Wall Street showcases a hard lesson: if you play with fire, you’re bound to get burned. While Belfort’s company is initially perceived positively as a Robin Hood-esque brokerage that levels the playing field against the rich, he gets too greedy, and it comes back to bite him.
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8. Air (2023)
Synopsis
The Ben Affleck-directed (he also stars in it) Air focuses on the Air Jordan, Michael Jordon’s best-selling athletic shoes, and how they came to be. The film also features Viola Davis, Chris Messina, Jason Bateman, and Matt Damon. The 112-minute movie is a tense ride through how the deal on the Air Jordans almost didn’t come to be and how the team behind it eventually prevailed.
Key Business Themes: Innovation and technology, biographical
Why It’s a Must-Watch
Proving that not all business films based on a true story need a heartbreaking ending, Air is a great preview into how a big business deal can blossom, including the difficulties that can occur along the way.
9. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
Synopsis
This documentary, based on the book by Peter Elkind and Bethany McLean, reviews how Enron Corporation fell apart in 2001, including the criminal trials that its executives underwent and Enron trading during the electricity crisis in California between 2000 and 2001. The documentary includes interviews with stock analysts and former Enron employees, even a few execs.
Key Business Themes: Biographical, financial markets and crises, corporate drama
Why It’s a Must-Watch
The documentary showcases how two years after Enron’s founding, it was already embroiled in controversy due to a trading scandal involving oil market betting, and how it only gets worse from there. There are some good lessons in this one, so check it out.
10. Tetris (2023)
Synopsis
The biographical film Tetris is based on one of the pioneering video games and its race to get patented. Jon S. Baird directs. The movie, which is set in 1988, focuses on Henk Rogers, who presents a game he created at the Consumer Electronics Show. That’s where he’s introduced to Tetris, which was created in Russia. Rogers strives to spread Tetris, getting it arcade rights and distribution on consoles.
Key Business Themes: Innovation and technology, biographical, corporate drama
Why It’s a Must-Watch
This is another business film with a happy ending, but it’s still a bumpy ride to get Tetris distributed in the way that Henk Rogers imagined. The film spotlights business savviness without backstabbing.
Read also: 25 Productive Things To Do Instead Of Watching Netflix
11. Moneyball (2011)
Synopsis
The Brad Pitt classic Moneyball, which features director Bennett Miller, is based on Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, a book by Michael Lewis. The film spotlights Billy Beane (played by Pitt) in a general manager role for the baseball team the Oakland Athletics in 2002. Although Beane struggles with a strict budget, he seeks undervalued players with potential based on sabermetrics.
Key Business Themes: Biographical, business drama
Why It’s a Must-Watch
Sports films are always an exciting viewing experience, especially when they have business lessons built in like Moneyball does. The film is also a great example of the sabermetric method in action.
12. The Startup Kids (2012)
Synopsis
Sesselja Vilhjalmsdottir and Vala Halldorsdottir are the creators behind The Startup Kids, a documentary about technology startup businesses in Europe and the United States.
The two Icelandic directors interview founders of hot startups, including names like Brian Wong (founder of mobile app rewards company Kiip), Ben Wray (an entrepreneur), Jessica Mah (founder of Mahway and InDinero), Zach Klein (once the CEO of Dwell), and Leah Culver (an angel investor, startup founder, and computer programmer).
Key Business Themes: Innovation and technology, biographical, entrepreneurialism and startups
Why It’s a Must-Watch
The Startup Kids feels like a rare opportunity to pick the brains of some of the most innovative names in various startup fields. You can glean all sorts of unique perspectives and nuggets of wisdom by watching.
Read also: Powerful Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business
13. Margin Call (2011)
Synopsis
Directed by J.C. Chandor, Margin Call is focused on the 2007 and 2008 American Wall Street financial crisis, focusing on employees and how they handle the subsequent fallout. It stars Stanley Tucci, Demi Moore, Penn Badgley, Jeremy Irons, and Paul Bettany.
Key Business Themes: Financial markets and crises, corporate drama
Why It’s a Must-Watch
Even if you didn’t experience the Wall Street financial crisis personally, you likely still felt the effects of the economic slowdown around 2008. Revisiting that time may be painful, but Margin Call is a fascinating (and fictional) look into how these difficult situations are handled.
14. Jobs (2013)
Synopsis
Take a dive into Steve Jobs’ life and career in Jobs, a drama and biography from director Joshua Michale Stern. The plotline starts with Jobs’ time at Reed College and how he co-created the MacIntosh (later known as Mac) computer and the iPod, along with all the struggles he faced in between.
Key Business Themes: Innovation and technology, biographical, entrepreneurialism and startups
Why It’s a Must-Watch
Steve Jobs is an inspiration to many of us, even after his death. He started what would become the multi-billion-dollar Mac enterprise in his garage, which required a lot of trials and tribulations along the way. This documentary spotlights them in a fascinating style that makes Jobs an excellent watch from start to finish.
15. The Social Network (2010)
Synopsis
The Social Network explores the founding of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg. This drama & semi-biography features David Fincher as the director and stars Jesse Eisenberg as the titular Zuckerberg. The cast also includes Justin Timberlake and Andrew Garfield. The film chronicles the beginning of Facebook as Facemash, how it grew into Facebook, and the people who felt betrayed and backstabbed along the way.
Key Business Themes: Innovation and technology, corporate drama, entrepreneurialism and startups
Why It’s a Must-Watch
If you use Facebook for business or personal purposes, you should check out The Social Network. While not a straight biography and thus subject to storytelling to make the film more interesting, it’s a fascinating movie that proves founding a huge social network doesn’t come easily.
16. Too Big to Fail (2011)
Synopsis
Too Big to Fail is another chronicle into the 2008 financial crisis, this time focusing on Bear Stearns, an investment bank, and how it was sold to JPMorgan Chase, then the fall of Lehman Brothers. The television film from director Curtis Hanson is inspired by the nonfiction book of the same name by Andrew Ross Sorkin that was published in 2009.
Too Big to Fail debuted on HBO in 2011 and received several SAG awards for lead actor Ben Bernanke.
Key Business Themes: Financial markets and crises, corporate drama
Why It’s a Must-Watch
Too Big to Fail isn’t a documentary, so it has more intrigue around it. It’s a great glimpse into what transpired with Lehman Brothers during the 2008 financial crisis.
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Wrapping Up
Increasing your business acumen in your personal time doesn’t have to be a chore. Watching business movies for entrepreneurs will help you glean new ideas and forge a path forward to your goals!
FAQ
How can I watch business movies?
Try your favorite streaming services, from Hulu to Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Can watching movies make you a more successful businessperson?
Not directly, but you can absorb lessons, guidance, and strategies that could come in handy in real-life applications.
