The Hummingbird Project

Jesse Eisenberg and an almost unrecognizable Alexander Skarsgård play cousins Vincent and Anton Zalesky in Academy Award–nominated director Kim Nguyen's The Hummingbird Project. Determined to create a more efficient way of transmitting information between stock exchanges, the cousins scheme to lay fibre-optic cable from Kansas City to New York, gaining them and their clients crucial seconds in order to trounce their competitors. Vincent — the force behind the scheme — is a frantic dreamer who pursues his ideas with zealot-like intensity while promising everyone the moon. Anton is the brains, a socially awkward data wiz with few friends besides Vincent. Both end up in the crosshairs of their ruthless former employer Eva Torres (Salma Hayek), a Wall Street lion willing to devour anyone unlucky enough to get in her way. Unfortunately, Anton hasn't entirely figured out how to make the cable connection fast enough to warrant the expense. As time runs out, Vincent's claims of grandeur get progressively wilder. (Toronto International Film Festival)