The Card Counter

William Tell (Oscar Isaac) is an ex-military interrogator living under the radar as a low-stakes gambler. Tell’s meticulous life is thrown into disarray when he encounters Cirk (Tye Sheridan), a young man out for revenge against a mutual enemy. With backing from mysterious financier La Linda (Tiffany Haddish), Tell takes Cirk on the casino circuit to set him on a new path. ‘It’s a supremely compelling tale leavened by its wry humour and a subtle commentary on the essential emptiness of American life.’ (Little White Lies)

I was wondering why someone would choose to live in that sort of purgatory. He doesn’t want to be alive, but he can’t really be dead, either. What could cause that? It can’t be a simple crime, murder, or a family dispute. It has to be something unforgivable. There is this whole fantasy of gambling movies from The Cincinnati Kid to California Split. But poker’s all about waiting. People will play 10 to 12 hours a day and two to three times a day, a hand will happen where two players both have chips. Now you’ve got a face-off. But that doesn’t happen very often. Most guys who are there are running the numbers, the probability.

Director Paul Schrader, from an interview with IndieWire