25 Greatest Film Deaths This Century

Sadly, the Safdie Brothers are no longer working together. They have parted to pursue their own independent interests: in Benny’s case, a sports drama inspired by a real person; and in Josh’s case, a sports drama inspired by a real person. Thankfully, before they split, we lucky sods got to experience their masterpiece: Uncut Gems.

The film follows Adam Sandler’s Jewish-American jeweller, New Yorker and gambling addict Howard Ratner, who is trying to get back an expensive uncut opal he loaned to the Boston Celtics’ Kevin Garnett in order to pay off his debts. This may not sound like much of a movie, but the Safdies craft the film into a tight and ever-constricting chain of events that Howard’s poor decisions keep making worse. From the first scene, it’s difficult to watch, and difficult to breathe when you do.  

This culminates in a scene in which Howard locks his loan sharks in the security area of his jewellery store and tunes into a basketball game he has bet $165k on. Against all odds, Howard wins, scoring him more than enough to get square and move on. But when he unlocks the door, loan shark Phil (Keith William Richards) shoots him dead.

And it couldn’t have been otherwise. This is fate in action, and it finally releases the film's unbearable tension. Howard has been getting away with it for so long, and this is everything catching up with him, his universe of mistakes delivering a final blow via Phil’s trigger finger.