Midas

David takes on Goliath in TJ Noel-Sullivan’s corporate thriller, Midas. Ricky (Laquan Copeland) is a young man who had his whole life ahead of him until his mother got cancer and ironically lost her job at Midas, the health insurance company she worked for. Unfortunately, she was let go before her cancer diagnosis, so she is uninsured and can afford the major surgery she needs.

Today, Ricky is dragged to a Harvard post-graduation party his best friend, Sunita (Preet Kaur), was invited to as her plus one. She makes him wear a Harvard sweatshirt to blend in, where Ricky meets the lovely Claire (Lucy Powers) and her father, Gregory (Bob Gallagher), who happens to be the CEO of Midas Health Insurance.

Lying about this Harvard cred, Rickey impresses Gregory, who offers him a job on the spot working for his son, Tom (Erik Bloomquist), who resents having Ricky foisted upon him.
On his first day on the job, Ricky learns all about the seedy underbelly of the health insurance industry and how they disallow a high number of expensive procedures and, if they had the chance, would raise premiums or flat-out cancel high-risk patients…like Ricky’s mother.

After discovering that Tom has the proper credentials to alter policies on the Midas computer database, Ricky, Sunita, and their hacker friend, Victor (Federico Parra), concoct a plan to sneak onto Tom’s computer long enough to reinstate his mother’s insurance policy and approve her surgery. The plan requires Ricky to take Tom out for his birthday lunch.

“On his first day on the job, Ricky learns all about the seedy underbelly of the health insurance industry…”

First, I’m glad to see indie filmmakers take on corporate thrillers. The look and tone of Midas rival any thriller that the big boys have produced since the streaming wars began.

I would classify Midas as a light thriller in that most of how the baddies are taken down is a bit implausible. I’ve worked in the health insurance industry, and reinstating someone’s policy is not as easy as logging into a manager’s account. Although the execution of the corporate “heist” is fun to watch, it is not entirely on the Mission Impossible level.

Get over the realism or hyper-realism angles; there’s much to enjoy. Laquan Copeland as Ricky performs fantastically as the compromised Robin Hood willing to commit a few felonies to save his mother’s life. I like that he goes down a dark road until reality slaps him in the face, along with the juicy third-act revelation.

Stories like this also need to find a way to stand out from the crowd. Without getting into too much detail, there is the introduction of an algorithm that not only revolutionizes Midas’ ability to ensure only healthy without getting caught but dammit could be a reality even today.

I think it’s fair to say that if you’re looking for a deadly serious thriller with car chases and gunfights, you’re not going to find it here. If you want something fun and light with characters you can root for and a commentary on the state of health care, Midas is the right choice for you.