While not necessarily a new subgenre, the moniker “eat the rich” has been applied to quite a few movies lately, likely as a result of the cultural recognition of wealth inequality. The latest to potentially earn this nomenclature is Coup!, a handsome and entertaining comedy that makes great use of its magnificent cast. By tapping into class tensions, financial disparity, and yes, a global pandemic, this period piece finds many parallels to today’s world, even if its messaging isn’t always clear. Namely, I wasn’t sure who I was supposed to be rooting for. But maybe that’s the point? Let’s discuss.
On one side of the film’s conflict we have Floyd Monk (Peter Sarsgaard), a personal chef assigned to work at the estate of J.C. Horton (Billy Magnussen), a well-off writer currently residing in his massive summer home with his two children and his wife Julie (Sarah Gadon) during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. But here’s the catch: Floyd Monk is not actually Floyd Monk. No, the real Floyd Monk is dead, and the man taking his place is of considerably lower class than his position would have us assume. He’s crass, he has a problem with authority, and he doesn’t actually seem to know too much about the culinary arts. But like all good con-men, he knows how to work around his limitations. His is a unique skill set, and it’s one that almost immediately causes unrest amidst his fellow staff members, some impressed by his ways, and others not so much.
What follows is a battle of egos at feature length, with Horton’s estate as the arena. The film is at its strongest when it milks the bubbling tensions between these two men, pitting them just as often in a silent battle of wills as it does in verbal, and occasionally physical warfare. It’s in this clash that the film finds the bulk of its humor. Sarsgaard relishes in the inherent sliminess of Monk, exhibiting keen delight in pressing his employer’s buttons while taking a mile for every inch of slack Horton reluctantly allows. Magnussen also contributes to the comedy via a masterful balance of discomfort and propriety that is constantly in a state of escalation.
But herein lies one of the film’s more confusing aspects. Just who is the viewer rooting for? If we side with Monk, we side with the working man (albeit one with a shady past). Conceptually this is easy to do, as most of us have experienced some level of class-based injustice in recent times. Yet on the other hand, the characterization of “the rich,” namely J.C. Horton, is not one of a greedy villain. In fact, short of a few needless class dividers between he and his staff, he’s a generous and kind employer. Beyond his silver spoon home life, he has dreams of a career in public service.
Now to be fair, Horton’s generosity has a self-serving air to it, but not so much that we could say he deserves the many comical misfortunes he is forced to endure. And in the same vein, as we learn more about Monk’s motivations, his underhanded methods are somewhat easier to tolerate — his intentions certainly align with that of many contemporary activists. It soon becomes clear that this duality is potentially the point of the film. We have a good man who is blind to his own downsides pit against a bad man who embraces his dark side to a somewhat noble end. Perhaps the degree of satire I expected at the outset would have produced an entirely different film, and not the one to reasonably expect from Coup! My expectations were that the film would be more pointed and would feature a stronger resultant catharsis, but the place where the film ultimately lands left me feeling unsettled in the best of ways. It seems we’re supposed to take it all in and recognize that these two men are both, in a way, victims of a larger, more corrupt system.
I guess I’d have to see it again to be sure, and frankly, I’d be happy to do so. Coup!, as it were, is very enjoyable on its face, due both to its excellent cast and its tremendous use of setting. Sarah Gadon, as Julie Horton, J.C.’s wife, gives us a period accurate character, who is much less prone to class-based stuffiness on account of having lived a different life before meeting her husband. It’s this rebellious streak that gives her license to connect with the staff (never “servants” per J.C.’s decree) and unwittingly help lubricate Monk’s miniature mutiny. Hers is the meatiest of the supporting performances, but the entirety of the staff is worth noting, including Skye P. Marshall and Faran Tahir as the two servants I MEAN STAFF MEMBERS that fall under Monk’s sway.
Coup! occurs mostly in a single setting, that of a large manor, but it allows for a handful of micro settings to be utilized, all of which appear to be genuine locations and sets — an increasingly rare circumstance. The isolation of the pandemic is felt, as is the class divide between the Horton family and their staff and neighbors. And as the tensions within the manor arise, and the daily battle against disrepair mounts (a battle fought solely by the staff), the setting responds accordingly.
With Coup!, writers/directors Austin Stark and Joseph Schuman have conjured an enjoyable comedic thriller that uses a period setting to explore contemporary (or, sadly, evergreen) social issues. It may not be as scathing as it aims to be, but it remains effective and fun nonetheless.
Directed by Joseph Schuman, Austin Stark
Written by Joseph Schuman, Austin Stark
Starring Peter Sarsgaard, Billy Magnussen, Sarah Gadon, Christine Nielsen
Not rated, 98 minutes
