Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2019) is a documentary directed by Justin Pemberton — watch online on iFILM. It adapts Thomas Piketty's blockbuster economics book of the same name, which reshaped the global conversation about wealth inequality after its 2013 release and sold millions of copies across dozens of countries.

The film moves through centuries of economic history: from the wreckage of the First World War to present-day inflation, from the way Jane Austen mapped her characters' incomes to how Wall Street decisions push housing costs in Auckland. Piketty appears alongside Joseph Stiglitz, Francis Fukuyama, Rana Foroohar, Gabriel Zucman and other economists and historians — each adding a different angle on how capital concentrates and what, historically, has ever pushed back. The Simpsons and classic literature show up alongside economic graphs and archival footage.

Where most films about economics lecture, this one cuts between eras and reference points fast enough to stay gripping. Uncomfortable questions, not tidy conclusions. Stream Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2019) online on iFILM.