In the age of social media and viral videos, this film is a reflection of how fame can come and go in the blink of an eye.
Forever Rich, Netflix's Dutch drama, is much relevant in today's day and age. It follows a rising hip hop artist, Richie Rick, who spirals out when a humiliating video of him goes viral. After his career seems to have washed out, it pushes him to try and reclaim his career by seeking revenge on the people who were responsible for his downfall. But it does not go as planned.
The film is written by Shady El-Hamus and Jeroen Scholten van Aschat and directed by Shady El-Hamus. In the era of social media and viral videos, this film is a reflection of how fame can come and go in the blink of an eye. You can stream the film on Netflix.
Richie Rick (Jonas Smulders) is an emerging rap star who seems unbeatable and with a loving girlfriend, a devoted mother, and a dedicated fan base has it going strong for himself. He is an active social media user and his public persona is that of a "gangster".
He finally gets his big break after signing a three-million-dollar deal with Sony. Just when it seems like he will be leading a successful career, things take a turn for the worse when he is attacked by a group of masked muggers in the car park.
These masked men claim to be the "real 1112 street soldiers." They steal Richie's watch, his phone, and record a video of the whole mugging episode. In this video, which goes viral, Richie can be seen weeping as he is held with a machete to his neck. The muggers claim that Richie is just a "white boy pretending to be gangsta". This video brings Richie to the brink of losing it all.
After the video of him crying at the mercy of the gangsters goes viral, Richie's popularity plummets. His ticket sales hit an all-time low, he gets roasted by people online and he starts to get frustrated. He takes his anger out on his girlfriend who has grown tired of him spending all his time online worrying about what others are saying about him. She leaves him after he gets violent with her. But all this makes Richie decide to get his watch back from the gangster and with that, his dignity. He uses it as a guise to teach the masked man a lesson.
Richie is obsessed with getting his reputation back and arranges a trade-off with the 1112 gang. In exchange for the watch, he offers them a huge amount of money. He then turns up with a gun to threaten the gang. They run away with his money and after a chase, Richie manages to get hold of one of the gang members. He proceeds to shoot a video of the gang member just like how they had recorded him. But he accidentally ends up shooting him in the leg. He then throws away the gun and runs away after retrieving his belongings. After this, he shoots a video of himself proclaiming victory over the people who stole his belongings.
In the end, things seem to be changing for the better. Richie is back to performing and is informed that Sony reached out to him again to keep the contract. Additionally, other record labels also reached out to sign him. In the end, his mother comes to hug him backstage before his performance. There is discomfort in Richie's demeanor who does not seem to have recovered from the whole set of events yet. Just before going on stage, he also remembers his past when his mother instilled in him, greed for fame and money that he continued to live by presently. The film ends on this note, even as Richie seems to be struggling with making sense of himself.
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