With huge amounts of money at stake, Kosmos juggles its partners in Ghana, financial backers in New York, and the Great Recession that dramatically reduces oil prices.

The film also visits Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta, where decades of corruption and lack of development fuel militants, who attempt to gain a share of the oil pie.

[8] In The New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis wrote that "this cool and incisive snapshot of global capitalism at work is as remarkable for its access as for its refusal to judge.

"[9] Alan Scherstuhl of The Village Voice opined that the film "is no simple screed against tick-like profiteers growing fat on malnourished hosts," but instead "a richly detailed portrait".

[10] In The Washington Post, Stephanie Merry argued, "Boynton’s most impressive feat in 'Big Men' is how she takes an impossibly convoluted scenario, makes sense of it and tells a story that's riveting on its own but also serves as a parable about greed and human nature.