Must-watch movies and TV shows about rich people being truly awful

“The White Lotus” has become one of HBO’s biggest hits of the last decade. Why? Vicariousness. Well, that and great actors, many of whom aren’t weirdly overly sensitive and demand apologies from comedy shows! It’s all about beautiful locales and rich people with secrets, some sexual, some violent. Plus, when there will inevitably be dead bodies showing up, why not have them be some rich jerk? It worked really well for “Columbo” back in the day.

“Nine Perfect Strangers” satirizes “wellness” charlatans while engaging in a bit of “rich people being bad” fun. There is a lot of “The White Lotus” in this show, but also a lot of “Big Little Lies,” which is also based on a Liane Moriarty novel. Nicole Kidman plays a “wellness guru” seemingly looking to build a cult around herself, though much of the show is about lies, secrets, and the like. As with “The White Lotus,” what was once a limited series is now an anthology series. More perfect strangers. More wellness. More sexy secrets.

“Fantasy Island” is “Monkey’s Paw” by way of the idle rich. Mr. Roarke, along with his assistant Tattoo, has rich people come to their island to “live out their fantasies.” Of course, nine times out of 10 the theme is “be careful what you wish for.” They leaned into this even more in the reboot series, the sequel series, and also the horror movie from 2020.

Nobody makes being rich, selfish, and stupid as entertaining as the Bluths. In the cult FOX sitcom, the Bluths lose everything but must maintain appearances. They may have lost their money, but Lucille, Gob, and the gang are still awful people. There was also the Netflix reboot, but when it comes to “Arrested Development,” maybe you can just stick with the three seasons on FOX.

It’s a classic dynamic of television, and also film. There’s the criminal/ne’er-do-well, and then there’s the people who are dedicated to catching them. Sometimes the chaser is the main character and the ostensible hero, but sometimes it’s the chased. “Billions” ran longer than we realized, going all the way through a seventh season that ended in 2023. So, you know, it had plenty of time to deal with billionaires and how they make, and keep, their money at a time it was relevant. Damien Lewis played a hedge fund manager who unscrupulously accrues as much money and power as he can in the world of finance. Meanwhile, Paul Giamatti was U.S. attorney looking to shed light on how Lewis’ character made his money and to bring him to justice, whatever that may mean.

Well, HBO was really on a “rich people being awful” kick for a bit, huh? In addition to “The White Lotus,” there was “Succession.” The darkly-comedic world of the Roy family, media impresario Logan and his various children and hangers-on, was acerbic, acclaimed, and entertaining. “Succession” became one of HBO’s must-watch shows, not to mention a critical darling. It won several Emmys, including winning Outstanding Drama Series three times.

The artificial world of “high society” still exists. Just look at any version of “Real Housewives.” Period piece “Palm Royale” shows what it takes to both enter that world, but also how to jockey for position in it. Kristen Wiig is the lead, an outsider from an impoverished background who has married her way into Palm Beach, Florida’s summer society scene. However, other women in the scene, even established ones like Allison Janney and Carol Burnett, have to go to great lengths to stay influential.

One does not need to be an adult to be a rich jerk. In fact, the lack of responsibility and life experience among the young idle rich makes it even more likely for them to act out. “Gossip Girl” was a soapy show for teens that birthed multiple stars and became something of a cultural sensation. A lot of people like gossip, and when it can be gossip about fake rich people you love to hate, even better.

One of the forerunners of the phenomenon we are discussing here, perhaps the patient zero of it all, is “Dallas.” Sure, soap operas often involved rich people doing each other dirty, but those were daytime shows with low budgets that felt silly. “Dallas” was, um, a lot of that, but in primetime! Oil money was coursing through Texas, especially Dallas (just ask SMU), and that world gave us the Ewings, “Who shot J.R.?” and a couple spinoffs/rip-offs trying to recapture the magic of “Dallas.”

Yes, “Veep” is a political show, and a hilarious, vulgar one at that. However, it’s also about rich people. That’s part of it. Selina Meyer had money before she was in politics, and there are several storylines about politicians trying to set themselves up for a financial windfall after their careers are over. And, of course, everybody is awful.

You can’t live like Cookie Lyon without a lot of cash. “Empire” was FOX’s primetime soap set in the world of the music industry. While Terrence Howard was the ostensible lead of Lee Daniels’ show, “Empire” became a showcase for Taraji P. Henson, who got one Emmy nomination for the show.

Both of Rian Johnson’s Benoit Blanc films are about rich people’s unscrupulous behavior. “Glass Onion” hits that trope a bit harder. However, “Knives Out” is the decidedly better movie of the two, and it was there first. Benoit Blanc is something of a Southern-fried Columbo, with his observational skills and penchant for taking down rich people. No wonder Johnson also created “Poker Face” with Natasha Lyonne.

Jordan Belfort’s real, unethical, hedonistic life was certainly well-suited for a Martin Scorsese movie. “The Wolf of Wall Street” is vulgar, over-the-top, and somehow managed to be both a commercial and critical hit. Some complained that Scorsese was “glorifying” Belfort’s lifestyle, but those people probably just want to return to the days of the Production Code anyway.

Okay, on a sliding scale, the rich kids of “Clueless” aren’t anything like Belfort and his crew. Cher and her friends aren’t bad people, per se, but they can be vapid and irresponsible. It’s where much of the humor comes from, as Amy Heckerling’s movie manages to allow us to roll our eyes at the rich kids while also rooting for them to some degree.

Based on a Bret Easton Ellis book, “Less than Zero” isn’t subtle. Young, rich Angelinos fall into the world of drugs, partying, and addiction. Andrew McCarthy plays a clean-cut college student who comes home for Christmas break and falls into the drug-fueled madness that his high school friends have fallen into, one played by Robert Downey Jr.

Speaking of Ellis! “American Psycho” has probably become his most famous, or infamous, book. It’s also not subtle, though the satire has come to be appreciated. The film takes the “style over substance” perception of social climbers in New York City to an absurd, violent extreme. Christian Bale plays an unhinged, murderous investment banker whose derangement goes unnoticed by many because he has great suits and an impeccable skincare regimen.

We won’t spoil the twists and turns of “You’re Next,” a clever, but definitely violent, horror movie. A rich family comes together at the family’s mansion in a secluded, wooded town. There’s a lot of bickering and pill-popping, but then things take a turn when masked murderers put the family under siege. Again, we don’t want to spoil anything. If you like clever takes on horror tropes, give “You’re Next” a shot.

Here’s another horror movie, though this one is more comedic than “You’re Next.” Once again, an outsider who has entered a rich family’s circle through a romantic relationship is set up as our protagonist. Played by Samara Weaving, she and her groom-to-be arrive at a manor for a family game night. Does she end up being hunted for sport? We think you can figure that out.

“Greed, for the lack of a better word, is good.” When one of your film’s main characters says that, you know you are in a “rich people being awful” story. That line is spoken by Gordon Gekko, a role that won Michael Douglas an Oscar. The film is about Gekko taking Charlie Sheen’s Bud Fox under his wing, but will Bud figure out where to draw the line on greed, something Gekko simply doesn’t want to do?

Sure, it’s dystopian sci-fi, but that doesn’t mean “The Hunger Games” isn’t about rich people being bad. Like, really bad. In the world of “The Hunger Games” the rich have hoarded the wealth and left the poorer districts to fend for themselves. Additionally, they sometimes have to participate in the titular Hunger Games, a deadly fight for survival.

Even in this “slobs vs. snobs” comedy, some of the slobs are also wealthy and up to no good. It’s not like Rodney Dangerfield or Chevy Chase’s characters are being nice, generous, and considerate. No, they are rude, loutish, and uncouth. In fun ways, sure, but they aren’t model citizens. Then, of course, there’s Ted Knight’s Judge Smails. He’s smarmy on top of his rudeness and loutishness.

“Cruel Intentions” is silly as all get out, but it became a favorite of a generation as a cult classic due to its over-the-top nonsense (and maybe some kissing). It’s one of those “rich people making an amoral bet” movies, but it’s one of the more sordid versions of that. Let’s just say Sarah Michelle Geller’s character has zero chill in terms of matters of sexuality. “Cruel Intentions” made enough of an impact to yield two sequels (one direct-to-video) and a 2024 TV series. Those have all been forgotten, and fairly so.