The five best lotteries in film

The motif of the lottery has been widely used in cinema, but there are a few films that have captured the most intriguing aspects regarding this common goal of our society. In this article, we will tell you about the five best films that have explored the concept of the lottery so that you can visualise the complex nature of this popular motif.

Winning the lottery is the fastest way to a happily ever after and 1994’s It Could Happen to You is the best modern fairytale of the past few decades. Charlie Lang is a true Prince Charming as he gives his waitress, Yvonne Biasi, a $2 million-dollar tip to stay true to the promise he made to her. Winning the lottery changes everything for Charlie, for his wife, Muriel, and of course for Yvonne. This windfall brings out their true nature, as well as that of the people around them, and they each start fighting for their goals. Charlie, Muriel, and Yvonne find out that true love comes naturally and that certain things in life are priceless.

The mindset of lottery players can have an enormous impact on the overall results and Twenty Bucks provides us with an excellent story on the overwhelming enthusiasm of playing the lottery. The film has a quite an unusual premise, as it follows a twenty-dollar bill from user to user, from the moment when it is issued and up to the point where it is destroyed. One of the bill-holders is Angeline, a strong-spirited homeless woman, who has the revelation of her life: the code on the twenty-dollar bill is the winning combination of numbers in the lottery. Her adventurous journey towards playing those numbers relays the amazing thrill that comes with playing the game. To find out whether or not the bill numbers brought her the lottery jackpot, watch Twenty Bucks and we guarantee that you will have a great time.

Can winning the lottery truly provide us with everything we’ve ever wanted? This is the main question in 2014’s Welcome to Me. Kristen Wiig plays Alice Klieg, a woman battling Borderline Personality Disorder, who wins a huge jackpot in the Mega Millions lottery. She perceives her new fortune as a brand-new start at life and she decides to live her lifelong dream of having a talk show. Having grown up watching every single episode of Oprah, she buys her very own TV show aimed to introduce the entire world to herself. Along with her new start, she also opts to stop taking her medication and she unleashes her true self onto America. To find out everything about Alice and how Welcome to Me impacted the US, watch this charming film.

This 2010 documentary explores a very different type of lottery held in the United States. Thousands of children from America’s poor neighbourhoods take part each year in a lottery promising them a spot in a charter school. With an overflow of candidates who meet and exceed all the admission requirements, the selection process has become a lottery raffle, which has a better education as its grand prize. The film relays the conflicting views on the matter of charter schools, as it points out the benefits, as well as the disadvantages of including more places for America’s youth in such facilities. The main stories in the film focus on four young boys coming from the Bronx and Harlem who play the education lottery hoping to get a chance at a better life. Find out their impressive stories and whether or not they get to attend the charter school in The Lottery.

The Hunger Games is centred on a death raffle that the people of Panem are forced to take part in each year. Two people from each of the 12 districts of Panem are chosen to take part in a battle to the death that serves as entertainment for the citizens of the Capitol, the main city of this fictional world. The Hunger Games are a periodic reminder that rebellion is strictly forbidden in Panem and that President Snow, its callous leader, has a firm grasp on its future. But on the 74th edition of the games, everything changes in Panem. When Katniss Everdeen of District 12 takes her sister’s place in the games, she reminds the people that there is still hope for a better tomorrow.

The Hunger Games captures the terrible fear of the people, who risked having to fight each other to the death for the gruesome amusement of the privileged and wealthy. The iconic anti-lottery in the films will keep you glued to the screen, rooting for Katniss to save Panem from its merciless ruler. What is your take on winning the lottery? Do you think it is enough to give you your happily ever after? If so, then play a lottery ticket of your very own and maybe you will get to see first-hand what it feels like to have the resources to build your ideal tomorrow.