The Card Counter 15

Written and directed by Paul Schrader, The Card Counter tells the story of William Tell, a poker player who travels the country, moving from casino to casino. An enigmatic anti-hero, William gives little away, apart from when he wrestles with dark thoughts in his journal each night.

Told with Schrader’s cinematic intensity, it is revealed that William served as a prison guard at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and he is struggling to process his past as part of the cruel legacy of the War on Terror. A detailed character study with similarities to Schrader’s recent First Reformed (2017), The Card Counter is a compelling, contemporary take on the film noir.