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Beat the Lotto

Play trailer Poster for Beat the Lotto 2025 1h 20m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 7 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
When downtrodden 1980s Ireland inaugurated a National Lottery the people began to dream. For Stefan it was an obsession. Seeing a flaw in the system, he attempted to fix the draw but the heist became public and the lottery tried to stop him, dividing the nation on a very public caper.

Critics Reviews

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Tara Brady Irish Times 07/02/2025
4/5
[Ross Whitaker] invests this pre-Celtic Tiger tale with the punch-the-air rhythms of a sports movie, replete with a last-minute intervention from the authorities. Go to Full Review Leslie Felperin Guardian 07/01/2025
3/5
There is not much going on here in terms of wider contextualisation or deeper themes, just a very meat-and-potatoes, TV-friendly story of a scam played, as nearly everyone says, for “the craic”. And the money, of course. Go to Full Review Ed Power Irish Times Aug 25
... this is an endearing profile of a country that was in many ways a slow motion disaster and of the hustlers and gamblers who tried to bend the system and almost succeeded. Go to Full Review Graeme Tuckett The Post NZ Apr 2
4/5
Whitaker, thankfully, is far more interested in the personalities of the men involved and the society in which they lived, than he is in the mechanics and the equations of the scheme. And there are some big and engaging characters here. Go to Full Review Harry Guerin RTÉ (Ireland) 07/07/2025
4/5
Whitaker hurries the ending, and it's frustrating that there isn't more of an epilogue, because all the interviewees are such good company that you'd love to hear a bit more. That aside, this film, well, makes a balls of it in a lovely way. Go to Full Review Hilary A White Sunday Independent (Ireland) 07/03/2025
4/5
...this is a superb evening out that manages to be cracking entertainment while also a snapshot of our near-distant past. At its heart, Whitaker fashions a mighty underdog tale where our national irreverence for authority is championed. Go to Full Review Read all reviews
Beat the Lotto

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Cast & Crew

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Ross Whitaker

Director

Stefan Klincewicz

Self

Aideen O'Sullivan

Producer

Ross Whitaker

Producer

Alex Sapienza

Cinematographer

Nathan Nugent

Film Editor
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Beat the Lotto

Beat the Lotto (2025) Beat the Lotto (2025) Beat the Lotto (2025) Beat the Lotto (2025) Beat the Lotto (2025) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis When downtrodden 1980s Ireland inaugurated a National Lottery the people began to dream. For Stefan it was an obsession. Seeing a flaw in the system, he attempted to fix the draw but the heist became public and the lottery tried to stop him, dividing the nation on a very public caper.
Director
Ross Whitaker
Producer
Aideen O'Sullivan, Ross Whitaker
Production Co
True Films
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 20m
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