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Living on One Dollar

Play trailer Poster for Living on One Dollar 2013 53m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 1 Reviews 74% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
In rural Guatemala, four friends battle illness, parasites and hunger as they experiment with living on just $1 a day for eight weeks.
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Living on One Dollar

Critics Reviews

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Grace Montgomery Common Sense Media Earnest, inspiring docu shows realities of rural poverty. Rated: 4/5 Feb 25, 2015 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Living On One Dollar has a strong premise, but it ends up being an experiment with too many flaws that should have just been released on TV. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member This has to be one of the most obnoxious movies I've seen in my entire life. These guys were whiney and treated poverty like a fun little game (oh lets pull these numbers out of a hat, oh no we got zero whoops) The have no risk of actually starving or getting sick because in reality they have upwards of 200 dollars with them and probably a lot more. This movie would have been fine if they admitted their overwhelming privilege and the fact that their only staying here for 8 weeks, not their entire lives. Also, what the fuck, they act like 1000 calories is not enough to live on when you can eat nothing for days and survive. I do applaud any charity efforts but this movie, on its own, is incredibly ludicrous and annoying. Actually I do have one good thing to say about this movie, it is fucking hilarious. They probably didn't intend it but this movie is the funniest movie I've seen in a long time. Of course it's also incredibly infuriating but that's a separate issue. The fact that they were buying things like toilet paper, firewood, had fricking: notebooks, alarm clocks and changes of clothes, while saying things like "we're in a bad situation" or "we're living on the edge" is extremely funny. If they wanted to research the poverty in Guatemala and make a movie about it, that is fine. But they don't have to act like they're doing something so noble and being so brave or "living on a dollar a day" - when they are clearly not. It's really dehumanizing to live in extreme poverty for your entire life, but 8 fucking weeks, come on, do you really have to pack like you're staying at a fucking Hilton. Also, they borrowed money from that bank designed to help people in REAL POVERTY, not white guys playing make believe, which is so stupid. They didn't even need to borrow money the radishes took 6 weeks to grow (and they also had someone plant them for them, yeah that's really realistic) and they only had 2 weeks left at that point and said something like "this is going to change our life", yeah for fucking two weeks. The 54 dollars (EACH, might I add) was enough, what did they even do with the radishes? In fact, if water is free you could live on about 20 dollars, in a country where the cost of living is very low (for good reason, because of extreme poverty). 20 dollars in American money is a lot. Also why the hell were they teaching those kids english, that won't help them succeed at all, thats the most arrogant bullshit. How about use your fancy fucking westchester education to teach them science or math. Or use the 60,000 dollars in tuition money you pay to go to your private college. What's next, converting them to protestantism? Learning a language is a good skill but it is not a priority when you are a child in extreme poverty, you need to speak very well in your native language and know basic math, first. This movie is not even that bad and I liked the interviews with the people living there. It's just the fact that these guys are so unbearable as people makes this movie the fucking worst. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Enjoyed and very thought provoking Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Breathtaking. That's the word I can think of. I came across "Living on One" in my spanish class and it's safe to say that throughout the entire length of the film not one student could take their eyes from the screen. It takes a lot of get the attention of 20 teenagers but this film did it. It captures poverty in its most raw state and beautifully embeds the emotion within it. It challenges superficial representations of third world nations and sheds light on nothing but the truth. It will change how you view your life. Incredibly humbling, a must watch. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie had zero substance. Just very bad. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Not bad. Hipster youngsters with north face and camel back gear making a difference in Guatemala, they have kept working with the folks in Guatemala to this day. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Living on One Dollar

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis In rural Guatemala, four friends battle illness, parasites and hunger as they experiment with living on just $1 a day for eight weeks.
Director
Zach Ingrasci, Sean Leonard, Chris Temple
Production Co
Living on One
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 19, 2016
Runtime
53m
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