The Trust: A Game of Greed


The Trust: A Game of Greed is an American reality game show broadcast on Netflix in 2024. Eleven strangers are offered $250,000 split equally among themselves and have to decide whether to eliminate each other and whether to accept offers that affect the money in the prize pot.

Format

A communal pot of $250,000 is initially shared equally among 11 contestants who socialize together in a luxury villa. Trust Ceremonies are held in which each contestant is given the opportunity to vote a contestant out of the game. The person who receives the most votes is eliminated, but there is no elimination in the case of a tie or no votes.
Participants play games that can add money to the prize pot. These include games that reveal secrets about each other, games that ask them to rank each other based on personality and games that ask them to reveal their voting history. Some contestants are offered access to The Vault, which gives them the opportunity to take an offer, which could benefit themselves or the group. The series is hosted by journalist Brooke Baldwin.

Contestants

NameAgeOccupationResultWinnings
42RancherWinner$78,600
26Marketing ManagerWinner$73,600
28BusinesspersonWinner$63,600
33TeacherWinner$48,600
37Military ContractorWinner$48,600
43Business CoachEliminated$0
31BartenderEliminated$20,000
70RetiredSelf-eliminated$25,000
22RealtorEliminated$0
55UnemployedEliminated$0
32Police OfficerEliminated$0

Future appearances

In 2024, Tolú Ekundare appeared on the second season of Perfect Match.

The Vault

Color key:
EpisodeRecipientsOffer 1Offer 2ResultTrust Total
1Juelz
Simone
Bryce and Tolú's votes were blocked, $5,000 added to the trust.$255,000
2Bryce
Gaspare
Julie received immunity, $10,000 subtracted from the trust.$245,000
3Bryce
Jake
$18,000 added to the trust.$263,000
4BrianNoneOffer declined.$248,000
4JulieNoneJulie voted for Bryce, and Bryce went home. $15,000 subtracted from the trust$248,000
5WinnieNoneWinnie was eliminated. $20,000 subtracted from the trust.$228,000
6JayNoneJay self-eliminated. $25,000 subtracted from the trust.$203,000
7BrianNoneJulie, Jake, and Brian's votes were blocked. $30,000 subtracted from the trust.$173,000
7EveryoneNoneEveryone revealed their voting history. $60,000 added to the trust.$268,000
8EveryoneNoneTolú accepted the offer with a bid of $25,000.$243,000

Voting history

'''Color key:'''

Production

The series was filmed over roughly three weeks in Casa Kimbal, Cabrera, Dominican Republic.

Analysis

The series drew comparison to The Traitors, a Dutch reality game show franchise that divides contestants into Faithfuls, who aim to win games, and Traitors, who aim to sabotage and eliminate people. The Trust explores human behavior and psychology: alliances form immediately on the basis of gender. The production sows mistrust by revealing that one contestant is a millionaire and using divide-and-conquer tactics, such as singling people out to receive Vault offers.

Reception

The series has a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on seven reviews. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the show a positive review, writing "We know what to expect, and 'The Trust' delivers, from the suspenseful techno-beat soundtrack to the swooping overhead drone camera shots to the 'confession room' interviews." Rebecca Nicholson of The Guardian gave the series 3 out of 5 stars, calling it "a budget bootleg version of The Traitors". Steve Greene of IGN wrote that the premise was unoriginal but the show had "tiny flashes of something interesting under the surface that keeps The Trust from feeling completely unnecessary.