99 Homes

99 Homes is a 2014 American drama film directed by Ramin Bahrani, written by Bahrani and Amir Naderi, and starring Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon, Tim Guinee, and Laura Dern. Set in Florida, during the Great Recession, the film follows single father Dennis Nash (Garfield) and his family as they are evicted from their home by businessman Rick Carver (Shannon), leading to Nash choosing to help Carver in evicting people out of their homes in exchange for his family's home. Bahrani dedicated the film to the late film critic Roger Ebert. The film competed for the Golden Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. It won Grand Prix at 2015 Deauville American Film Festival. It also screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released in a limited release on September 25, 2015 and wide expansion starting October 9, by Broad Green Pictures. Plot Recently unemployed single father Dennis Nash, a former construction worker in Orlando, Florida, is evicted together with his mother Lynn, a hairdresser, and young son Connor from the foreclosed home they share. Real estate operator Rick Carver is in charge of the eviction, and police officers who provide the enforcement call him "boss". Dennis and his family move into a shabby, cramped motel room. Dennis goes to Rick's office and tries to take back his tools stolen by Rick's men. Rick sees the confrontation and is impressed by Dennis' gumption. He offers Dennis work as a repairman at his properties and Dennis accepts. Dennis soon becomes Rick's assistant, helping to carry out evictions himself and quickly learning the real estate schemes that exploit government and banking rules to the disadvantage of struggling homeowners. It is revealed that Rick and Dennis have similar backgrounds and having seen how his father worked hard for no reward and seeing how stacked the system is against the common man, Rick reasons it's better to be the hunter rather than the hunted. Dennis takes a cut for the work he is performing for Rick and dips into the glamorous lifestyle in which Rick indulges. On his rounds he encounters the father of his son's best friend, but the man turned hostile toward Dennis when he saw him become part of Rick's eviction business.