Top 20 "Eat The Rich" Movies That Expose Class Divide And Wealth Inequality

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Ignacio Weil

Entertainment - May 20th 2025, 00:15 GMT+2

Cropped The Purge — 20. The Purge Series (2013–2021)

What if crime were legal for one night a year? No, not the kind where you forget to scan an avocado at self-checkout—we’re talking full-blown chaos. *The Purge* series imagines a dystopian America where the rich hide behind security systems while the poor are left to survive the carnage. It’s a not-so-subtle metaphor for how society already operates, just with more masks and machetes. With each installment, the series cranks up the political commentary and the gore, proving that sometimes the scariest horror is socioeconomic. Lena Headey, Frank Grillo, and Y’lan Noel take turns navigating this annual bloodbath, bringing depth and grit to the frenzy. The message? When the system’s this rigged, revolution is just a matter of time. | © Blumhouse Productions

Cropped the hunger games — 19. The Hunger Games Series (2012–2015)

If you thought your job felt like a soul-sucking competition for survival, *The Hunger Games* said, “Hold my bow.” Set in the glitzy dystopia of Panem, the series pits starving districts against each other in a televised death match for the amusement of the elite. Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen becomes the reluctant face of rebellion, wielding both arrows and attitude. With a cast including Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, and the ever-scenic Elizabeth Banks, the franchise serves up a glitter-drenched critique of capitalism, exploitation, and spectacle. Oh, and don’t forget Stanley Tucci as a disturbingly enthusiastic TV host. “May the odds be ever in your favor”—unless you’re poor, of course. | © Lionsgate

Cropped the platform — 18. The Platform (2019)

A vertical prison. A floating slab of food. And hundreds of inmates who either feast or starve depending on their floor. *The Platform* isn’t subtle—it’s literally a metaphor stacked on top of itself. This Spanish sci-fi thriller delivers a deliciously disturbing look at how the rich devour the best while the rest fight over scraps. Iván Massagué anchors the story with a performance that's equal parts desperation and defiance. It's Kafka meets *Saw* meets that awkward potluck where someone takes all the shrimp. Violent, grim, and darkly humorous, this film doesn’t whisper its message—it shoves it down your throat. | © Netflix

Cropped the menu — 17. The Menu (2022)

Welcome to Hawthorne, where dining out is murder—literally. *The Menu* skewers foodie culture, the ultra-wealthy, and haute cuisine with razor-sharp satire and a side of psychological thriller. Ralph Fiennes plays a chef with a vendetta, while Anya Taylor-Joy serves as the lone outsider who sees through the artifice. Nicholas Hoult’s insufferable foodie character is the cherry on this beautifully plated nightmare. Each course served at this secluded restaurant becomes a commentary on privilege, ego, and excess. It’s part *Hell’s Kitchen*, part *Lord of the Flies*, and all deliciously deranged. Bon appétit... or else. | © Searchlight Pictures

Cropped Us — 16. Us (2019)

Jordan Peele’s Us asks the terrifying question: what if your worst enemy looked exactly like you, but came from the shadows of everything you try to ignore? With Lupita Nyong’o delivering not one but two powerhouse performances, this horror film uses doppelgängers to explore the deep-rooted inequalities baked into American life. It’s eerie, yes, but it’s also a parable about the “haves” and the “have-nots,” and how society creates monsters—both metaphorical and real. Winston Duke brings humor and heart, grounding the chaos in one unforgettable family vacation gone wrong. The tethered aren’t just coming for revenge; they’re coming for recognition. | © Universal Pictures

Cropped dumb money — 15. Dumb Money (2023)

Move over Wall Street wolves—here come Reddit trolls armed with memes and vengeance. *Dumb Money* chronicles the wild, true-ish story of how retail investors flipped the script on hedge fund billionaires with nothing but GameStop stock and internet chaos. Paul Dano leads the charge as Keith Gill (a.k.a. Roaring Kitty), with supporting turns from Pete Davidson, America Ferrera, and Seth Rogen adding fuel to the financial fire. The movie blends David-and-Goliath energy with TikTok-fueled rage, proving that in late-stage capitalism, even a stock about a failing mall store can become a revolution. It’s the ultimate underdog story—equal parts absurd, righteous, and yes, very online. | © Columbia Pictures

Cropped the white tiger — 14. The White Tiger (2021)

If *Slumdog Millionaire* had a darker, more cynical cousin who smirked through every gut punch, it’d be *The White Tiger*. This sharp, ambitious film follows Balram, a clever driver from rural India, as he claws his way up from poverty into the elite’s inner circle—only to spit in their metaphorical soup. Adarsh Gourav delivers a breakout performance as the antihero you root for, even as he breaks every rule in the book. Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Rajkummar Rao round out the cast as clueless, condescending employers who exist in a bubble of privilege. Spoiler: that bubble doesn’t stay intact for long. | © Netflix

Cropped joker — 13. Joker (2019)

No Batman. No gadgets. Just Arthur Fleck, a failed comedian whose life spirals into madness in a city where the rich watch from ivory towers while the rest rot. Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar-winning performance in *Joker* is equal parts tragic and terrifying—a descent into chaos that feels a little *too* familiar. It’s not just a comic book origin story; it’s a grimy mirror held up to class warfare, mental illness, and institutional failure. Robert De Niro plays a smarmy late-night host who gets more than a punchline in return. Dark, moody, and divisive, this film doesn’t ask for sympathy—it dares you to feel complicit. | © Warner Bros. Pictures

Cropped knives out — 12. Knives Out (2019)

Ah, the cozy murder mystery—except in *Knives Out*, the knives are out for generational wealth, toxic entitlement, and rich people who treat their help like furniture. Rian Johnson’s twisty whodunit features a murder, a mansion, and a family so dysfunctional they make the Roys look well-adjusted. Daniel Craig trades Bond for Benoit Blanc, a Southern-fried detective with flair, while Ana de Armas steals the spotlight (and possibly the inheritance?) as a nurse with more scruples than the entire Thrombey clan combined. Chris Evans dons a cable-knit sweater and a devil-may-care smirk that screams “trust fund menace.” Deliciously sharp. | © Lionsgate

Cropped trading places — 11. Trading Places (1983)

Before *Succession* and *The Wolf of Wall Street*, there was *Trading Places*—a Reagan-era comedy that dared to ask: what if capitalism was just a game for bored millionaires? Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd play a street hustler and a stockbroker, respectively, who become pawns in a social experiment orchestrated by two greedy old tycoons. The results? Hilariously revealing. Murphy shines with early-career brilliance, while Jamie Lee Curtis steals scenes (and wallets) as a whip-smart sex worker with a heart of gold. Underneath the laughs lies a scathing critique of privilege, power, and how absurdly arbitrary it all is. | © Paramount Pictures

Cropped saltburn 2023 — 10. Saltburn (2023)

Oh to be young, broke, and invited to a lavish estate where decadence oozes from the wallpaper and every glance is a power play. *Saltburn* is a gothic fever dream of class envy and obsession, where Barry Keoghan plays a scholarship student who gets tangled up—emotionally, sexually, and perhaps homicidally—with a wealthy aristocratic family. Jacob Elordi is the golden boy with secrets behind every smirk, while Rosamund Pike glides through the manor like a couture-wrapped ghost of British colonialism. Emerald Fennell directs with the precision of a scalpel dipped in champagne. It’s seductive, shocking, and absolutely unhinged—in the best way. | © Amazon MGM Studios

Cropped la grande bouffe 1973 — 9. La Grande Bouffe (1973)

In *La Grande Bouffe*, four wealthy men gather at a French villa with a plan so bizarre it almost defies summary: eat themselves to death. No, seriously. This 1970s cult classic is equal parts grotesque, absurd, and brilliant—an unapologetic middle finger to consumerism, gluttony, and the bourgeoisie. Marcello Mastroianni, Michel Piccoli, and Philippe Noiret commit fully to this darkly comic food-fest, where indulgence becomes a death wish and digestion is existential. It’s not for the faint of stomach, but behind the stomach-turning decadence is a surprisingly profound commentary on the emptiness of excess. Come hungry… or maybe don’t. | © Valoria Films

Cropped snowpiercer 2013 — 8. Snowpiercer (2013)

Bong Joon-ho turns a train into a metaphor for the entire class system in *Snowpiercer*, where the rich party in the front and the poor rot in the tail. Chris Evans ditches his Captain America squeaky-clean vibes to lead a bloody rebellion through one absurdly stylized train car after another. Tilda Swinton steals scenes with false teeth and fascist flair, while Octavia Spencer and Song Kang-ho add gravitas and grit. It's dystopia on rails—with sushi bars, rave cars, and a whole lot of social commentary. The message is clear: if you’re not invited to the front of the train, you might just have to take it over. | © CJ Entertainment

Cropped marie antoinette 2006 — 7. Marie Antoinette (2006)

Sofia Coppola gives the finger to historical precision and the royal court in *Marie Antoinette*, a pastel-soaked fever dream of Versailles decadence. Kirsten Dunst plays the infamous queen not as a villain, but as a tragic teenager drowning in cake, corsets, and endless expectations. Jason Schwartzman is her hilariously uninterested husband, and the whole thing plays out like a high-fashion Tumblr mood board—because why not set a French Revolution to New Order? Underneath the rococo glam is a quietly scathing portrait of aristocracy that’s too busy playing dress-up to see the guillotine coming. Let them eat irony. | © Columbia Pictures

Cropped the talented mr ripley 1999 — 6. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

If you’ve ever been so desperate to join the yacht club that you, uh, borrowed someone's identity and maybe a bit more, you might relate (just a little?) to *The Talented Mr. Ripley*. Matt Damon plays Tom Ripley, a social climber with charm, ambition, and a dangerously flexible moral compass. Jude Law is magnetic as Dickie Greenleaf, the rich golden boy who doesn't realize he's letting a snake into his sun-drenched Italian paradise. Gwyneth Paltrow adds vintage linen and side-eye, while Philip Seymour Hoffman brings the menace with a single sneer. It's gorgeous, it's tense, and it reminds us: the rich might be terrible, but wanting to be them? That might be worse. | © Paramount Pictures

Cropped Mad Max Fury Road — 5. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Welcome to the apocalypse, where water is power, cars are religion, and the rich are so grotesquely bloated with resources they make modern billionaires look minimalist. *Mad Max: Fury Road* is a pedal-to-the-metal metaphor for late-stage capitalism, with Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa stealing the show (and the war rig) as she liberates a group of enslaved "wives" from the tyrannical warlord Immortan Joe. Tom Hardy grunts his way through as Max, but the real engine here is rage—hot, dusty, feminist rage. It’s all flames, fury, and a not-so-subtle message: maybe the rich shouldn’t hoard all the water while the rest of us eat sand. | © Warner Bros. Pictures

Cropped infinity pool 2023 — 4. Infinity Pool (2023)

What if your wealth could literally buy you out of consequences—like, say, getting executed for murder? In *Infinity Pool*, Brandon Cronenberg takes that unsettling premise and coats it in neon-lit depravity and existential dread. Alexander Skarsgård plays a privileged novelist whose vacation spirals into a nightmare of cloning, cultish elites, and Mia Goth being… well, iconically unhinged. It’s grotesque, surreal, and brutally on the nose, showing how the rich can play god while the rest of us just try not to get trampled. If *White Lotus* had a baby with *Black Mirror* and dropped acid, it might look like this. | © Neon

Cropped the exterminating angel 1962 — 3. The Exterminating Angel (1962)

Imagine you’re a wealthy dinner guest and suddenly—poof!—you can't leave the room. Not because the door is locked, but because your entitlement is so existentially bloated you forget how to function without staff. That’s the premise of *The Exterminating Angel*, Luis Buñuel’s legendary surrealist satire that traps the elite in a dining room and slowly strips away their civility. There are sheep, hallucinations, and a general vibe of “we deserve this” confusion. It’s a slow, delicious unraveling of class illusion, served cold and absurd. Think of it as the original *eat the rich* film—only no one brought the fork. | © Producciones Gustavo Alatriste

Cropped triangle of sadness 2022 — 2. Triangle Of Sadness (2022)

*Triangle of Sadness* is what happens when you trap influencers, arms dealers, and Marxist yacht crew on the same luxury boat and then flip the social order—literally and figuratively. Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning satire is brutally funny and wonderfully vicious, especially once Woody Harrelson’s drunken communist captain starts quoting Marx over the intercom while the ship's toilets explode (you had to be there). Charlbi Dean and Harris Dickinson float through a world of vacuous privilege, until everything sinks—along with their status. If you ever wanted to see capitalism barf itself to death in slow motion, here’s your chance. | © Neon

Cropped Parasite — 1. Parasite (2019)

At the top of the pyramid sits *Parasite*, a genre-bending masterpiece that manages to be hilarious, horrifying, and heartbreakingly true—all in one impeccably framed package. Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-sweeping film follows the impoverished Kim family as they cunningly infiltrate the wealthy Park household. Song Kang-ho leads a brilliant ensemble, flipping the script on who we root for, and reminding us that the divide between upstairs and downstairs is just one torrential rainstorm away from collapse. It’s a tale of aspiration, manipulation, and class warfare—disguised as a thriller, wrapped in comedy, delivered like a Molotov cocktail. Respectfully: rich people, you’ve been served. | © CJ Entertainment

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In a world where the wealth gap continues to widen, cinema has become a powerful tool for critiquing the elite and highlighting the struggles of the working class. From dark comedies to dystopian thrillers, "eat the rich" movies tap into societal frustration, portraying class conflict, economic disparity, and rebellion against the ruling elite. These films don’t just entertain — they provoke, disturb, and spark conversation.

Whether you’re a fan of biting satire, psychological thrillers, or social horror, this list of the top 20 "eat the rich" movies delivers a gripping exploration of wealth, privilege, and the people left behind. Dive in to discover must-watch films that hold a mirror to our modern world and challenge the status quo.