Coup!

And not ship wrecked on a tropical island, but stranded on a city island in an ocean of the Spanish flu. Instead of a steadfastly loyal, upstanding butler, we have a roguish, scheming cook, wheedling his way into an upper class family. Of course the comparisons only go so far, Coup is a far darker more sinister affair than the 1957 classic comedy. The social commentary presented here is apparent from the start, there is little in the way of a gentle progression as circumstances worsen.

The master to servant relationship on which the plot is hung is effective enough, but both characters have such unlikeable traits, that it may be hard to whole heartedly root for either in this war of the classes.

It's entertaining enough, but the 98 minutes runtime seemed to drag at times, the ending was well done, and satisfying, depending on your social justice standpoint I guess?

Jaunty class-war drama "Coup" has a decent premise & good performances, but its main characters are all so dislikable that it fails to hold attention. As the 1918 Spanish Flu bites, well-to-do journo Billy Magnussen secretly flees with wife Sarah Gadon & kids to his island country estate, pretending to still be in NY as he lambasts the govt to fuel his own political ambitions... til mysterious new chef Peter Sarsgaard stokes ill-feeling among his staff & family, as the 'plague' starts to grip the island, and the poop hits Magnussen's fan. Co-writers / co-directors Austin Stark & debutant Joseph Schuman offer an interesting analogy... but it just isn't interesting nor engaging enough.

Generally invited in the shadow of the epidemic changing standards and criteria in society, the film did not participate in anything except the concept of imbalance.

So I think the parallelism of the societal imbalance with the imbalance of some events in the film is justified.

There is light comedy and from there it moves to dark drama to remind people of the events of Covid and what happened in the minds while taking into account the time period. This is all that is good.

Cons: The ending isn't perfect. Some of the character motivations and transformation were rushed.

-Slow paced and small world I love this atmosphere.

I thought the basic idea for this movie was a satiric exploration of the similarities between the Covid and 'Spanish Flu' pandemics and how people of different backgrounds suffered through later. Boy, that would have been nice. No, instead the movie is very much about a rich hypocrite who seems to be a strawman invented by the present day US right-wing: a vegetarian coastal elite, who writes for the paper as if he was present at certain events, but he was not actually there, he is lying; he demands things he claims are good for the workers, but is clueless about the real world and does not treat his own workers too well. He is wealthy because his father owned a factory. When schools close because of the pandemic, his wife raises the idea the she could educate their children herself; he rejects the idea insisting that his wife should work (write) instead.

Unfortunately, the writing is rarely clever, nuanced, or even consistent.

The plot does not really gel, but it does not have to, the film is merely about the undoing of this hypocrite. I am sure some people will find nuance in the movie, and one could even argue it is a general critique of the upper class, but I don't think it works as such. Despite good performances by all cast members, the film disappoints due to its script.

Weird, dark, and fun is how I'd describe this one. It shows a microcosm of society using a family and their servants holed up during the Spanish Flu. It's satirization of performative activists and limousine liberals feels on point. Peter Sarsgaard makes interesting choices in all of his films, and he does it again playing a charming scumbag of a cook. Billy Magnussen, while not given the same juicy role, does a great job as well playing a writer / aspiring politician, who feels very familiar in the Covid-era where we all had to suffer through the "Imagine" celebs. Overall, it's a fun watch, not a broad comedy, but I did find myself laughing a number of times.