A Crypto Heist Goes Wrong for Opportunistic Redditors in ‘Cold Wallet’ Trailer [Exclusive]

Heist thrillers are typically all about the payday and the tense process that goes toward securing the substantial score with a crack team of thieves. In the SXSW hit Cold Wallet, however, the goal is revenge and the crew are a bunch of Redditors who band together after being duped by a cryptocurrency scam. Collider can exclusively share a up-to-date trailer and poster for the upcoming feature courtesy of WellGO USA Entertainment that shows the ragtag group breaking into the mansion of the kingpin behind the illicit crypto operation. Like many heists, however, their plan goes horribly awry as they unknowingly become pawns in a larger game meant to test their loyalty and their mental fortitude under pressure.

The footage opens with a news report that sounds all too familiar in the wake of the downfall of FTX and other exchanges. Several individuals using the fictional TPX exchange anxiously check as their investments are erased overnight, and their lives are effectively ruined by the billionaire (Josh Brener) behind the whole thing. For Billy (Raul Castillo) and his fellow vigilantes, the solution to their problem is basic – go whale hunting to secure the man’s cool wallet. Armed to the teeth with hopes of accessing all the crypto the crook has stolen, their plan changes when they hear his voice booming over the loudspeaker and take him hostage. Little do they know, coming to him means they’ve only played directly into his hands. As they try to secure his passphrases, he begins playing them against each other, taking advantage of their desperate family and financial situations as well as the criminal ramifications to amp up the pressure until they begin making dire mistakes that could cost them dearly.

Cold Wallet hails from director and co-writer Cutter Hodierne, who previously delivered the award-winning Sundance debut Fishing Without Nets in 2014. Similarly, his latest premiered during the Narrative Spotlight section at SXSW last year, and, while Collider’s Robert Brian Taylor wasn’t a fan in his 4/10 review, it did still find plenty of critics who enjoyed it as indicated by the 93% Rotten Tomatoes score. Hodierne originally planned a much different premise before settling on the idea of a tense thriller revolving around crypto and inspired by the likes of Elizabeth Holmes or Netflix’s Bitconned. In an interview with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff following the film’s debut, the director shared how and why he and co-writer John Hibey reshaped it into the acclaimed heist flick seen on the festival circuit:

“We were developing a film around doxxing, which is where someone’s address gets released on the internet, sometimes for nefarious reasons. A friend of mine named, Justin Staple, said, ‘Why don’t you do it about a crypto-heist thriller?’ So John [Hibey] and I developed a screenplay around that premise. I was pretty into meme culture around AMC and GameStop and Dogecoin, and just riding that line between the humor that you would see on these message boards, but then also the kind of dark reality of what some people are experiencing. I love when comedy can mash up with something dark and nefarious.”

‘Cold Wallet’ Boasts a Fitting and Talented Cast

Both Castillo and Brener feel right at home in Cold Wallet given their past experiences. Recently seen in the Gael García Bernal-led Cassandro, Castillo has previously gone thieving as sharpshooter Mikey Guzman in Zack Snyder‘s apocalyptic heist feature Army of the Dead, while Brener brings his Silicon Valley experience to the table for his role as the head of an illicit crypto empire. Also joining them are Melonie Diaz, Tony Cavalero, and Zoe Winters. If the solid cast wasn’t enough, the film is also being presented by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh, who has no shortage of experience with gripping and experimental thrillers, including the textbook heist flick Ocean’s Eleven.

Cold Wallet is in select theaters and on digital February 28, 2025. Check out the exclusive trailer above and the poster below.

Image via WellGO USA Entertainment

A team of Redditors lose everything after a cryptocurrency scam leads them to plot to kidnap the “financial influencer” who screwed them over.

Release Date

March 8, 2024

Director

Cutter Hodierne

Writers

John Hibey
, Cutter Hodierne