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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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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 [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. Rated: 4/5 Jul 2, 2025 Full Review Leslie Felperin Guardian 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. Rated: 3/5 Jul 1, 2025 Full Review Harry Guerin RTÉ (Ireland) 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. Rated: 4/5 Jul 7, 2025 Full Review Hilary A White Sunday Independent (Ireland) ...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. Rated: 4/5 Jul 3, 2025 Full Review Dale Kearney Film Ireland Magazine Beat the Lotto is utterly riveting from the first Lotto ticket to the final Lotto ball. Mar 4, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Cast & Crew

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Ross Whitaker

Director

Aideen O'Sullivan

Producer

Ross Whitaker

Producer

Alex Sapienza

Cinematographer

Nathan Nugent

Film Editor

Michael Fleming

Original Music
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Beat the Lotto

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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