This 2013 new crime thriller is one of Netflix’s best buried treasures

This week, Netflix added a wonderful but highly underrated movie from 2013 that’s as relevant as ever.

Sofia Coppolaof glittering ring is a dark comedy crime film based on the real-life crime syndicate known as the Bling Ring.

Video features emma watson, Taissa Farmiga, Leslie Mann and Paris Hilton.

Misunderstood and ignored at the time, glittering ring It was a more pointed satire of celebrity culture than critics of the time gave it credit for.

watch with us Details on why it’s well worth your time and why you need to go live this week.

“The Bling Ring” is adapted from a crazy true story

glittering ring It tells the story of a group of privileged, fame-obsessed Los Angeles teenagers, including Mark (Israel Brossard), Rebecca (Katie Zhang), Nikki (Emma Watson) and Sam (Taissa Farmiga) begin burglarizing the homes of celebrities, stealing their jewelry, clothes, cash and other valuables. Using the Internet, the group is able to track the movements of celebrities and estimate when they are away from home, allowing them to sneak in and out with bags full of stolen items, which they then often resell.

The film was inspired by the 2010 real-life Bling Ring vanity fair Article titled “Suspect Wearing High Heels” Nancy Jo Sales. Each character is based on a real person: Nick Prugo, Rachel Lee, Tess Taylor, Alexis Niles and others. The real Bling Ring robbed the homes of many celebrities within a year from 2008 to 2009. The victims included Paris Hilton, audrina patridge, orlando bloom, Megan Fox and Lindsay Lohan. Ultimately, the thieves made off with a total of approximately $3 million in assets, but they were eventually caught and each received varying sentences.

It’s a prescient satire on internet celebrity culture

At the time, critics felt that Sofia Coppola took too morally ambiguous a line in her portrayal of “Bling Ring” and did not make enough effort to publicly condemn the actions of the film’s characters. Yet years later, more savvy, media-literate audiences keenly understood the film’s biting satire. It even ended with a line that couldn’t have been more damning if it tried: On the talk show, 30 days after her release from prison, Nikki recounted what it was like to be in the same correctional facility where Lohan was locked up at the same time, then faced the camera and gleefully promoted her own website.

But even before that, the film does an excellent job of depicting the increasingly fragile barriers between fans and celebrities when social media was still in its infancy. The myth of celebrity has now been destroyed by apps like TikTok, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, giving fans unprecedented access to celebrities’ inner lives. Coppola thus does something subversive in her film—she sympathizes with the perpetrators of the crimes depicted and places subtle blame on the prevailing systems of violation that foster a perceived right to cross borders.

Emma Watson gives the best performance of her career

Emma Watson has had some difficulties trying to build a confident acting career outside of her childhood fame. harry potter franchise, and has seen mixed results in movies like this little women, beauty and beast and Noah. However, her performance as Nikki Moore (aka Niles) in the film delivers the clearest high point of her film career. glittering rings, Critics were right to choose her as the best performance in the film.

Watson’s performance transcended the perception of her as mere stunt casting at the time, playing against the goody-two-shoes type she’d cultivated over the years playing Hermione Granger. In fact, Watson ranges from smart to goofy as Nikki, but she thoroughly proves her ability to play party girl and celebrity wannabe, evoking the narcissism of the Los Angeles girl as if she was born that way. Watson turns lines like “Your ass looks great” and “I wanna rob” into comedic, meme-worthy gold, delivering them with a shrewd earnestness that’s both embarrassing and delightful.

stream glittering ring on Netflix.