Yes, you read that right, plastic surgery for dogs.

If the jowls on your canine companion hang too low for your liking and you have enough dollars and cents (sans common sense) to want to fix it, you can now get facial reconstructive surgery… for your dog. Shockingly, this is only a sliver of the outlandish anecdotes in Lauren Greenfield’s eye-opening documentary, Generation Wealth. Derived from years of photographing subjects from all around the world, Greenfield’s independent film is a fascinating look at the 1% and the stark reality of what too much money can do when a person starts to lose sight of life’s more important joys in favor of the superficial happiness cold hard cash can temporarily bring.

It can be argued that, in some respects, the character of modern-day society is in decline. Technologically, we are evolving at lightning speeds- autonomous cars, smart cities, artificial embryos and intelligence are just a few of the ways that we are attempting to better our quality of life. But remember, we sent a man to the moon before there was internet or Instagram, so technology is not the problem. It’s the growing lack of human connection coupled with under-valuing close relationships, which is resulting in a more merciless society. Humans as a species have never been more self-aware and self-critical than we are right now. That said, we are in luck because, if we can afford it, we can pay our way to happiness, right? Wrong.

Generation Wealth is a 21st-century fairy-tale-meets-horror-story.

Photographer Lauren Greenfield knows first-hand how growing up in a well-to-do environment can shape one’s outlook on life, and whether the effects are apparent or subconscious, they follow you forever. In Generation Wealth, Greenfield showcases how money affected her classmates at the prestigious Crossroads School in Santa Monica, some 20+ years post-graduation. She also exposes the privileged lives of more infamous figures, including Charlie Sheen’s “$30,000 porn star friend” Kacey Jordan, a former hedge fund manager, Florian Homm, whose net worth exceeded $800 million and due to shady activity, sat on the FBI’s most wanted list, and Jackie Siegel (aka The Queen of Versailles), owner of one of the largest and most expensive single-family houses in the United States.

What we learn from their stories plus the stories of others profiled in the film, is that more money often equals more problems. The green-eyed-monster doesn’t discriminate between age, gender, or location, and while some people are able to navigate through this dark period in their lives with a lesson learned as the outcome, the majority of subjects are still really sad. Money couldn’t buy them happiness, no matter what lies and false promises the affluent society had sold them.

As a whole, Generation Wealth feels like a cathartic experience for Greenfield, who addresses personal issues with her aging parents that had stemmed from childhood. Certain points of the film feel like we are eavesdropping on a closed therapy session, which at times can feel obtrusive and slightly removed from the film’s bigger objective. When the film sticks to the script and delves into the unusual lives of various wealth-addicts, it is fascinating. However, when it starts to detour into Greenfield’s issues of her mother abandoning her as a child, it starts to feel unnecessarily sad.

Generation Wealth is a 21st-century fairy-tale-meets-horror-story. Lauren Greenfield’s energetic storytelling about America’s dirty little secret will definitely keep audiences intrigued and fascinated during the entire runtime.