Let’s talk about the pandemic for a moment. No, not the COVID-19 Pandemic. The pandemic that, 100 years ago, killed millions and shuttered the United States for a time: the Great Flu of 1918. The virus infected roughly one-third of the world’s population, claiming the lives of approximately 50 million worldwide. Coup!, written and directed by Austin Stark and Joseph Schuman, utilizes this all-too-familiar setting to build an intriguingly dark class comedy starring Peter Sarsgaard, Billy Magnussen, and Sarah Gadon.
We open on a dead cook, Floyd Monk, and the mysterious man (Sarsgaard) attempting to impersonate him. We’re in the back of a restaurant that’s been shuttered thanks to state-issued safety protocols. The dead man has a gig the impersonator takes on: chef for a rich family quarantining at their estate on an island only accessible by ferry. The patriarch is Jay Horton (Magnussen), a spoiled journalist writing columns on behalf of the Progressive Movement. When Upton Sinclair (Fisher Stevens in a cameo) calls to discuss Horton’s political ambitions, the world stops in awe of the legend.
Horton is married to Julie (Gadon), a well-to-do wife somewhat stifled by the proper confines and vegetarian diet. The moment “Monk” joins the family’s staff, things get a bit more exciting. After poisoning the staff lead (Kristine Nielsen), Monk sows dissent among the ranks (Skye P. Marshall and Faran Tahir, both fun here). As resources dwindle on the island and lockdown continues (with the ferry closed), Horton’s self-proclaimed “new leader of the proletariat” bit grows tired. So does his vegetarianism. The kids need to eat, after all.
Stark and Schuman employ extreme frames and wide lenses to economically capture the world. A haphazard editing style works for the comedy beats, less so when the narrative approaches thriller territory. In scenes where tension is meant to build, not enough does. And while the boiling of emotions and treachery (perceived or otherwise) drives us into the third act, it seems there’s plot missing. Everything is incredibly straightforward, ultimately a tad underwhelming.
Still, there are crisp observations throughout, delivered primarily by Monk. “Sometimes I think this plague was sent from the Lord above just to level the playing field,” he says at one point. His explanation to Horton that the land he and his family live on is not, in fact, theirs is a bit of a stunner. Sarsgaard is the perfect foil in a class war. His disarming smile betrays his mischievous eyes. Magnussen, on the other hand, is a very elastic performer, often funny just in reacting to the situation at hand. Big eyes, full cheeks, and a lovely mustache add a certain amount of pathos to a naive rich guy concerned more with the staff using his indoor pool than showing affection to his wife.
An appropriately obtuse score covers some budget limitations, underlining major narrative moments with big sound-ups. There’s also a fairly weak nursery-as-allegory device employed throughout the narrative, underlining themes perhaps a bit too much. Yet its pandemic setting proves effective, the class commentary engaging, and performances top-notch. Coup! posits that the only path towards revolution is to “eat the rich.” Cooking for them isn’t going to cut it.
Coup! opens in theaters on Friday, August 2.