Rising High (2020)
Story overview
Rising High is a 2020 German comedy-drama film directed by Cüneyt Kaya. The story follows three corrupt real estate agents who rapidly amass immense wealth through fraudulent schemes, but their success leads them into a downward spiral of greed, drug abuse, and legal consequences. The film explores themes of ambition, morality, and the corrupting influence of money in a satirical yet dramatic tone.
Parent Guide
This film contains mature themes including fraud, substance abuse, and moral corruption. While presented in a comedic-dramatic style, the content requires mature understanding. Best for older teens who can process the ethical questions and consequences depicted.
Content breakdown
No physical violence shown, but includes tense situations related to legal consequences and confrontations about fraudulent activities. Some scenes show characters in peril from their illegal actions coming to light.
Disturbing themes of moral decay, corruption, and self-destructive behavior. Scenes showing characters' downward spiral into drug abuse and the emotional consequences of their actions may be unsettling.
Includes some strong language and profanity related to tense situations and character conflicts. Not excessive but present in emotional scenes.
Brief suggestive content related to lavish lifestyles and party scenes, but no explicit sexual content or nudity shown.
Multiple scenes depict drug use (cocaine and other substances) as part of the characters' lavish lifestyle and downward spiral. Shows both recreational use and dependency developing.
Emotionally intense scenes showing characters dealing with guilt, paranoia, and the consequences of their actions. The moral dilemmas and relationship strains create significant emotional tension.
Parent tips
This film is rated TV-MA for mature audiences due to its themes of fraud, substance abuse, and strong language. It's best suited for older teens and adults who can understand the moral complexities and consequences depicted. Parents should be aware of scenes involving drug use, intense emotional situations, and discussions of illegal activities. The film serves as a cautionary tale about greed and corruption.
Parent chat guide
Parent follow-up questions
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- What did you think about how the characters justified their fraudulent actions?
- How did the film show the consequences of greed?
- What role did peer pressure play in the characters' decisions?
- How realistic do you think the portrayal of wealth accumulation was?
- What lessons about ethics in business did you take from the film?
🎭 Story Kernel
At its core, 'Rising High' is a scathing autopsy of the 2008 financial crisis, reframed as a tragedy of aspiration. It's not about greedy villains, but about ordinary people seduced by a system that rewards predatory behavior. The protagonist's drive isn't pure malice; it's a desperate, twisted pursuit of validation and security in a world where traditional meritocracy has collapsed. The film argues that the real crime wasn't the fraud itself, but the cultural environment that made fraud the most rational path to success. Each character is chasing a ghost—the promise of stability—through increasingly unstable means, creating a domino effect of moral compromise.
🎬 Visual Aesthetics
The cinematography masterfully employs a dual visual language. The early acts are drenched in warm, golden-hour glows and wide shots of luxurious, empty McMansions, visually selling the dream. As the scheme unravels, the palette drains to cold blues and grays, with tight, shaky close-ups that induce claustrophobia. The camera often lingers on documents, signatures, and computer screens, making paperwork feel as tense as action sequences. Symbolically, the constant construction and abrupt halting of half-built homes serve as the perfect metaphor for the characters' lives: grand facades with nothing solid behind them.
🔍 Details & Easter Eggs
💡 Behind the Scenes
The film's director insisted actors use real financial terminology documents during scenes to capture authentic confusion and pressure. Several exterior shots of the fraudulent housing developments were filmed in a real, partially abandoned subdivision left unfinished after the 2008 crash, adding a layer of eerie authenticity. The lead actor spent a month shadowing a former mortgage broker to understand the period's specific salesman cadence and body language.
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Trailer
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