James Scurlock’s chilling documentary will up the anxiety of even the most responsible bill payer. Scurlock — a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania — reveals an America drowning in debt. We learn that more people will go bankrupt this year than get divorced, graduate from college, or are diagnosed with cancer. And the bulk of the profits obtained by credit companies come from the people least likely to pay; the insidious truth is that the more credit they hand out, the more credit people need. Scurlock shows that the price people pay is not just financial but mental and emotional. Most devastating are the interviews with two mothers. Each had a child who was seduced by the credit-card booths that line the campuses and quads every fall. Both amassed so much debt – one had 18 credit cards in his name — that they hanged themselves. These weren’t bad-seed ne’er-do-wells. These were smart, ambitious college kids who got over their heads. For many, it reaches a point where death is the only way out of debt.
