For me, a strength of Opulence is also a point for which it received criticism: there is no explanation of where the money comes from, of how the country gets its riches. The film noirs were about the bad things that people would do for cash, but Opulence imagines a world where there is endless money. Desperate everyday calculations about work and finances are removed, and citizens have more time for pleasure and contemplation. This allows us, and them, to focus on the real question: if we have everything we want, what comes next? Isn't that an important idea in itself? But as audiences we've been trained to view wealthy characters with suspicion.