Diksha Sundriyal
In Prime Video’s ‘Jackpot,’ the meaning of winning a lottery takes an entirely different meaning. Set in the near future, the movie follows the story of a woman named Katie who comes to LA with the hope of reviving her actor career, which she had put on a back burner to take care of her mother. When she wins the lottery, she suddenly finds herself at the center of everyone’s attention, and while it might have served her well as an actor, it doesn’t do her any good this time. That’s because everyone is out to kill her and claim her ticket so that they can get the $3.6 billion as the winner. The rules of the lottery make it a very twisted game in itself and make one wonder if there could really be such a lottery. SPOILERS AHEAD
The Fictional California Grand Lottery and Johnny Grand Serve as a Satire
‘Jackpot’ is a fictional story written by Rob Yescombe and directed by Paul Feig and delivers a laughter-fest to the audience in the form of an impeccable action comedy. Despite the jokes it delivers, the film and the lottery featured in it have no connection to reality. There is a California State Lottery that presents the opportunity for winning big through all kinds of games. However, it doesn’t have anything to do with the California Grand Lottery, especially all the violence involved with the latter.
The idea for making a film around the lottery and the violence came to Rob Yescombe while working on a video game. He has been in the video game industry for a good part of two decades. He explained that while making a video game, it is very important to get down a set of specific rules that are meant to push the game’s narrative forward while making things interesting by challenging the characters. While working on a separate project, he had the idea of a lottery system where the winner has to fight for their prize. He also threw in a bunch of other rules, like banning the use of guns so that the attackers have to get creative about their killings. The harder things get for the characters, the more exciting and entertaining it gets for the audience.
Yescombe also knew that for such a challenging task, the reward has to be high, too, and it cannot come from the government. A private entity has to be involved with the lottery, making things sketchier. Only a billionaire can fund something like this because not only do they have the money for the winnings, but they will also have a questionable moral code and the freedom to push the boundaries. This is where Johnny Grand (Murray Hill) comes in. The fictional character appears only at the end of the day when the winner has either been killed or has survived to claim their winnings.
After all the violence and brutality of the day, Johnny’s demeanor of bursting in with a smile and big check makes it seem like all that happened in the past few hours is completely normal and it’s a happy occasion. He completely erases the fact that someone has died and people turned into animals to get the money, but he is not affected by it because he is rich and doesn’t really know the desperation of the people who take part in the lottery. This represents the out-of-touch sense that rich people tend to exhibit toward the common populace and their struggles. We see the same thing with Johnny Grand, who is more focused on expanding the lottery to other cities and spreading more chaos and violence at the cost of innocent lives.
Read More: Jackpot (2024) Mid and End Credits Scene, Explained
