What would you do for a million dollars? Rob a bank? Fix the lottery? Would you consider hurting yourself? (I usually end up having to pay bills for a few years as a result of this, so I could handle this option).

The Brass Teapot (2013, R) guides audiences on a journey of liberation from debt, to greed and all-out murder. After stealing a mysterious teapot from an antique shop, Alice (Juno Temple) and John (Michael Angarano) discover that it produces cash whenever in the presence of pain. Whenever either harms themselves in the vicinity of the teapot, cash appears, increasing in amounts depending on how much they hurt. 

Ramaa Mosley takes these characters on the journey many people dream about: getting rich, quitting our jobs, buying a big house and never working another day ever. After seeing everybody but them and their best friends having succeeded after high school, Alice takes harming herself to a new level with the goal of not only paying off debt, but reaching the level of hobnobery at which the people she hates now reside.

The brass teapot has its own dark history however. Last stolen from Adolf Hitler, it was stolen time and again by and from dangerous leaders who had been driven mad by power and riches. If it’s given up willingly, the curse among its owner ends, but only in this case. Would you give up the ability to remain rich in a world full of pain, especially when if you lost these riches you would become depressed – something you would have benefited from with the teapot?

While I could never handle the immense pain I would have to inflict to pay off my debt, The Brass Teapot made me think a lot about its possibilities. Ignoring the repercussions, is the curse worth the results? Unless I were in the very situation these characters lived, I could not say for sure.

You can watch the trailer here and rent the movie from most streaming services (sadly, not for free) and on DVD.