“I can make your life hell if I decide.”
In The Hummingbird Project‘s first full trailer, those are the threatening words that Salma Hayek’s “intoxicating and manipulative trader” character, Eva, utters to an atypically schlubby Alexander Skarsgård’s Anton. He’s the cousin to Jesse Eisenberg’s Vincent, and the pair has embarked upon a crazy quest to gain a sneaky edge in high-frequency stock trading. They do so (seemingly unthrillingly) by hatching a plan to lay straight fiber-optic cable line running from Kansas to New Jersey, which (if successful) would give them the advantage to make millions upon millions of dollars. Especially with Eisenberg onboard, yep, there’s more than a little The Social Network vibe at work.
Directed by Kim Nguyen (War Witch, Two Lovers And A Bear), the movie premiered at TIFF and was praised for performances by its principal cast, although reviews were lukewarm overall regarding the film’s building of suspense while working within its odd premise. From the official synopsis:
In this modern epic, Kim Nguyen exposes the ruthless edge of our increasingly digital world. Cousins from New York, Vincent (Jesse Eisenberg) and Anton (Alexander Skarsgård) are players in the high-stakes game of High-Frequency Trading, where winning is measured in milliseconds. Their dream? To build a straight fiber-optic cable line between Kansas and New Jersey, making them millions. But nothing is straightforward for this flawed pair. Anton is the brains, Vincent is the hustler, and together they push each other and everyone around them to the breaking point with their quixotic adventure. Constantly breathing down their necks is their old boss Eva Torres (Salma Hayek), a powerful, intoxicating and manipulative trader who will stop at nothing to come between them and beat them at their own game.
The Hummingbird Project arrives in theaters on March 15, 2019. See the film’s new, fittingly conceptual poster below.
