Lottery is all about luck, isn’t it? Playing it is easy; winning difficult. The thrill of picking a lotto ticket and wondering what would happen if we hit that million-dollar jackpot might sound irrational. But, it gives us hope for the possibilities of a better life – a life where money won’t be a big determiner.
This fascination is perhaps the reason people worldwide obsess over playing the lottery and filmmakers see it as a fantastic movie plot. For all those dreamers who chase millionaire dreams, we bring a massive list of the top lottery movies from all over the globe you can binge-watch. Subtle spoilers ahead!
1. Greed
- Year of Release: 1924
- Origin: United States
- Language: American English
- Genre: Thriller/Psychological Drama/Silent Film
- Run Time: 2h 20m
- IMDB Rating: 8.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Directed by Erich von Stroheim, Greed – the movie is based on the 1899 Frank Norris novel McTeague. Trina Sieppe (ZaSu Pitts), wife of Dr. John McTeague (Gibson Gowland) wins a lottery and buys gold with her prize money of $5,000.
However, the lust for riches and revenge tempts Trina’s cousin and ex-lover Marcus Schouler (Jean Hersholt) to enter their lives and brew up acrimony with fatal consequences.
By the way, did you know that Greed is one of those few movies of its time to be entirely shot on location? Director Stroheim shot approximately 85 hours of footage before editing it!
2. Le Million
- Year of Release: 1931
- Origin: France
- Language: French (Canada)
- Genre: Musical/Comedy
- Run Time: 1h 30m
- IMDB Rating: 7.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
Okay, the first movie doesn’t really excite you to play the lottery, does it? Cheer up because here’s a movie that might just do it!
Le Million is a French musical comedy by director René Clair based on a play by Georges Berr and Marcel Guillemand. It’s about Michel (René Lefèvre), an impoverished, debt-ridden artist who must hurtle across Paris in pursuit of his missing threadbare jacket that carries a winning lottery ticket.
As dubbed by Pauline Kael – film critic for The New Yorker, Le Million is one of Clair’s ‘exquisite best.’ It’s a must-watch when you are looking for movies about winning the lottery.
3. If I Had a Million
- Year of Release: 1932
- Origin: United States
- Language: American English
- Genre: Comedy/Drama
- Run Time: 1h 28m
- IMDB Rating: 7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: –
To keep his greedy family from usurping his inheritance, dying steel tycoon John Glidden (Richard Bennett) must give away million-dollar windfalls to eight people randomly picked from the city directory.
Almog the lucky recipients is an elderly woman (May Robson), an entertainer (W.C Fields), a marine (Gary Cooper), an office clerk (Charles Laughton), a prisoner (Gene Raymond), a barroom prostitute (Wynne Gibson), a salesman (Charles Ruggles), and a forger (George Raft).
The newfound fortune brings delight to some of the recipients and misfortune to the rest. While the movie isn’t about playing or winning the lottery per se, it convincingly shows how sudden windfalls – much like a lottery jackpot – can impact our lives.
4. Love from a Stranger
- Year of Release: 1937
- Origin: United Kingdom
- Language: British English
- Genre: Thriller/Drama
- Run Time: 1h 32m
- IMDB Rating: 6.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: –
After stenographer Carol Howard (Ann Harding) wins the lottery, her fiancé, Ronald Bruce (Bruce Seton) breaks up with her fearing his eventual dependence on her sudden wealth. A heartbroken Carol rents her apartment and decides to journey to France.
She is joined by the mysterious Gerald Lovell (Basil Rathbone), who first comes to see her apartment and then lands on her boat. The two fall in love, elope, and marry against all odds. But upon their return to England, Gerald moves them to a country cottage in an isolated location, which instills fear and suspicion in Carol.
Well well, when you win the lottery, there would be people who would fear your riches and stay away and then, there would be those who would try to sweet-talk you into parting with your money. Better to stay anonymous, don’t you think?
5. Lady from Louisiana
- Year of Release: 1941
- Origin: United States
- Language: American English
- Genre: Western/Disaster
- Run Time: 1h 23m
- IMDB Rating: 5.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: –
Yankee attorney John Reynolds (John Wayne) is off to New Orleans to investigate a local lottery-based crime syndicate. He meets Southern belle Julie Mirbeau (Ona Munson) on the cruise and the two fall in love.
Upon arrival, they are greeted by Julie’s father, who is the organizer of the Louisiana lottery and John’s Aunt Blanche who is part of the anti-lottery forces aiming to put an end to it.
During his investigation John finds out the lottery contributes to numerous charitable institutions, including hospitals and leeves for rivers. Meanwhile, Julie’s father is murdered by one of his own henchmen, which leads to her blaming John, abandoning him, and dating the murderer.
Would the truth reunite the lovers? Watch Lady from Louisiana because the lottery isn’t always about the big money.
6. La Loterie Du Bonheur (The Lottery of Happiness)
- Year of Release: 1953
- Origin: France
- Language: French
- Genre: Comedy
- Run Time: 1h 30m
- IMDB Rating: 6.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: –
Leon Lucas (Yves Deniaud), a grocer, decides to organize a lottery to attract a huge clientele. A brand new bike is rewarded every week, but there’s a catch: to get a ticket, participants must spend a minimum of 1000 francs in food in his shop.
Soon, the lottery becomes a success as Lucas manages to pique the town’s interest. However, he doctors the ticket so the winner is never from the town and always fails to appear.
Displeased due to his dishonesty and their waning sales, the other small traders in the town seek revenge. To save Lucas from trouble, his son must now step in. In many ways, The Lottery of Happiness depicts everything we want to tell you about the importance of playing legit lotteries, especially online.
7. Mr. Sardonicus
- Year of Release: 1961
- Origin: United States
- Language: American English
- Genre: Horror
- Run Time: 1h 29m
- IMDB Rating: 6.6
- Rotten Tomatoes: 33%
Directed and produced by William Castle, Mr. Sardonicus is the story of a man whose face gets permanently frozen in a horrible grin while attempting to rob his father Henryk’s (Vladimir Sokoloff) grave to retrieve a winning ticket to the national lottery.
Sardonicus, now a bitter man desperate for a cure, would go to any length to restore his face. His newest interest is in Sir Robert Cargrave (Ronald Lewis), a gifted doctor from London who specializes in treating paralysis.
Sometimes, the lottery can be too much of an obsession, no?
8. Uptown Saturday Night
- Year of Release: 1974
- Origin: United States
- Language: American English
- Genre: Action/Comedy/Crime
- Run Time: 1h 44m
- IMDB Rating: 6.7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: –
Steel-mill worker Steve Jackson (Sidney Poitier) and taxi driver Wardell Franklin (Bill Cosby) spend a night-out at Madame Zenobia’s illegal nightclub only to get robbed of their wallets.
Steve’s wallet contains a winning lottery ticket worth $50,000! Uptown Saturday Night is all about the duo’s pursuit to recover the ticket (even if it means teaming up with a gangster) and the string of hilarious events that follow.
What would you do if you won the lottery and got robbed of your ticket? Watch this action-comedy today to find out.
9. Faustrecht der Freiheit (Fox and His Friends)
- Year of Release: 1953
- Origin: France
- Language: French
- Genre: Comedy
- Run Time: 1h 30m
- IMDB Rating: 6.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: –
Also known as Fist-Right of Freedom, Fox and His Friends is a dark take on the love-money equation and undoubtedly one of the best movies about lottery winners.
A distressed Franz “Fox” Bieberkopf (Rainer Werner Fassbinder) – a young and unsophisticated working-class gay man meets the older and sophisticated antique art dealer Max (Karlheinz Böhm) in a restroom.
Fox seeks monetary help, but Max refuses. However, a big win in the lottery changes everything. Max and his friends turn friendlier and now wish to help Fox. But the real agenda is to swindle him out of his newfound riches.
Man! Why can’t people leave a lottery winner alone?
10. Babette’s Feast
- Year of Release: 1987
- Origin: West Denmark
- Language: Danish/Swedish/French
- Genre: Drama/Romance
- Run Time: 1h 42m
- IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Pious and Protestant spinster sisters Martine (Birgitte Federspiel) and Philippa (Bodil Kjer) live with their strict pastor father in a small village on the remote western coast of Jutland. Winds of change blow when their father passes away and the Pietistic conventicle he founded fails to draw new converts.
Meanwhile, the aging sisters are visited by Babette Hersant (Stéphane Audran) – a Parisian refugee sent by Philippa's former suitor to serve as the family cook. As the sisters start taking delight in Babette's lavish meals, the latter wins a lottery of 10,000 francs.
Instead of using the money on herself, Babette spends it all on organizing a feast on the occasion of the pastor's hundredth birthday. The celebrants – puritans with the fear of temptation and of committing a sin of sensual luxury, refrain from talking about the earthly pleasures of their meal.
However, in the end, Bebette’s culinary skills win over and gifts break down their years of distrust and superstitions.
Directed by Gabriel Axel, Babette’s Feast is the first Danish drama film of a Blixen story and the first in Denmark to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. This is indeed a lottery movie you don’t want to miss watching.
If you’ve made it to the end of this listicle, you’re sure to be tempted to play the lottery yourself. Try out our list of the best lottery sites in India that let you enter the biggest world lottery. Who knows, a movie-like story just might come true!
