‘Trader’ Review
Stars: Kimberly-Sue Murray | Features the voices of: Shaun Benson, Stephen Bogaert, Ellen Dubin, Samora Smallwood, Art Hindle | Written and Directed by Corey Stanton
From the opening shot panning downstairs into a basement apartment, writer/director Corey Stanton establishes the sole location his film occurs within. A phone call is taking place, as a lone woman (Kimberly-Sue Murray) enacts fraud to access a man’s credit card details and prescription information. She uses this to stock up on pills and buy expensive products, selling the latter to fund her passion; stock market trading.
Following his 2018 feature-debut, Robbery, Stanton crafts a chamber piece about one character’s desire to rise above the rock-bottom situation and location she wishes to leave behind. As the story stays in the basement setting, the film must find ways to make the inescapable situation appear cinematic. This is achieved by going inward, terrifically visualising the inner workings of the protagonist’s mind in eye-catching ways which resemble performance art.
Labelled in the credits as the titular Trader, the protagonist is determined to rise above her past and succeed within a market run on fear, greed, and hype. When someone tries dissuading her by describing day trading as voluntarily solitary confinement, the excitement on the lead’s face is clear as she cannot wait to get started. She builds a verbal relationship with a high-profile broker, as the pair toy with each other to do whatever possible to rise within this field.
With Murray being the only person appearing on-screen, the film rests on her shoulders and she excels at portraying this manipulator. She perfectly conveys how the character’s only pleasure comes from victory, and she will happily burn down everything if it achieves that desired result.
A recurring theme is how, despite how much someone plans for each eventuality, the only undefeated champion is luck. Driven by a desire to control her own fate, Trader is determined to prove this wrong regardless of how much manipulation she must do. This is magnificently exemplified in the third act, as the pieces fall into place to show the lengths taken for her wide-scale manipulation. While a transitional moment before the third act feels convoluted, it’s a minor issue within this gripping work.
Early on-screen text reads “This is a Success Story,” a term true for both the film and Stanton, as Trader is an exceptional film from 2023.
Thank you so much for the review. We are very proud of the film!