Overachieving Parenting
Larry Bloom, Molly’s father has a strict way of parenting his children. He is controlling and demands nothing but excellence from his children. After Molly is injured, the next logical step as per her father’s wishes was law school. Molly uses this time to get out of his father’s authority and be free. In the film, it is claimed that Molly was trying to rebel against his father for cheating on her mother. Molly seems to reject that idea.
Addiction
As Molly climbs up the illegal gambling industry ladder, she gets to experience a new way of living. She has too much money, her identity is reputable and her power is massive. She becomes engulfed in this new toxic way of life. Molly can't seem to stop herself from making things more high risk. Player X is constantly challenging her to become bigger, and she feeds off that.
Gender Politics
The film touches on a very sensitive topic in today’s gender politics. Molly is a woman who enters into a male-dominated industry and manages to amass so much power and influence. Women in these environments are often portrayed as more of an accessory and mostly appear as background. She goes through terrifying ordeals that would be considered problematic in today’s politics. Despite this, Molly emerges victorious in each one and beats the stereotypical notions of power and dominance on film and in the overall society.
