What is the iRankMovies score for The Big Short?

Name: The Big Short
Director: Adam McKay
Genre: comedy, drama
Released: 2015
Duration: 2 h 11 min
Rating: 7.8

The Big Short has an iRankMovies score of 81/100, based on a weighted combination of IMDb (×3.0), Rotten Tomatoes (×2.0), Metacritic (×1.5), and TMDb (×1.0).

The Big Short (2015)

This is a true story.

Release:2015

Runtime:2h 11m

Country:United States

Director:Adam McKay

Language:English

Genre

ComedyDrama

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Keywords

Based On Novel Or BookBankFraudWall StreetBiographyBased On True StoryFinancesAnimated Scene

iRank81

The Big Short rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb7.8/10· 533K votes

Rotten Tomatoes89%

Metacritic81%

TMDb7.4/10· 10K votes

With 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 7.8/10 on IMDb and 81/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been very positive.

About The Big Short

The men who made millions from a global economic meltdown.

Cast of The Big Short

Steve Carell
as Mark Baum
Christian Bale
as Michael Burry
Ryan Gosling
as Jared Vennett
Brad Pitt
as Ben Rickert
Marisa Tomei
as Cynthia Baum
Melissa Leo
as Georgia Hale
Hamish Linklater
as Porter Collins
John Magaro
as Charlie Geller
Rafe Spall
as Danny Moses
Jeremy Strong
as Vinny Daniel
Finn Wittrock
as Jamie Shipley
Tracy Letts
as Lawrence Fields

The Big Short facts

Budget: $28M
Box office: $133.3M

Our take on The Big Short

Adam McKay turns the 2008 financial crisis into a nervy comedy-drama about the handful of outsiders who saw the collapse coming and bet against the housing market. Built around men who made millions from a global economic meltdown, the 2015 film uses restless energy and fourth-wall breaks to make dense finance legible and darkly funny. It rewards viewers who want smart, fast-talking storytelling and don't mind a bracing dose of cynicism about how the system works. Not a soothing watch, but a clarifying one: ideal if you like your comedy angry and your drama grounded in real, uncomfortable stakes rather than easy reassurance.

Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026Methodology Data sources

Audience opinions

What the audience liked

•Stylish editing and fourth wall breaks engage audience through creative narrative techniques
•Financial system critique delivers substantive message without becoming heavy-handed or preachy
•Ensemble cast performances showcase charisma making complex economic concepts accessible wholly

What the audience disliked

•Tonal inconsistency between comedy and serious financial crisis occasionally creates jarring clashes
•Complex economic explanations sometimes overshadow human stories driving the narrative forward