COUP! - Mark Reviews Movies

Coup!, Greenwich Entertainment

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Review by Mark Dujsik | August 1, 2024

It's difficult not to see modern times in Coup! Set during the influenza pandemic just before the end of the First World War in 1918, the movie revolves around a hypocritical journalist, who claims to speak for the working class from his inherited estate off Long Island, and a man who appears to be an even bigger phony. We first see that second man assume the identity of a chef, who has died by way of a single gunshot to the head. The impostor is in possession of the pistol, and innocent people typically don't hide a dead body, even with the convenience of a truck filled with dead flu victims just outside.

These two men—Jay (Billy Magnussen), the reporter, and Floyd (Peter Sarsgaard), the adopted name of the unknown pretender—are liars through and through, and they're quite skilled in their deceits. Writers/directors Joseph Schuman and Austin Stark set them against each other in a battle of wits that's one-sided for a while.

After all, Jay may be skeptical of those in power, carrying on business as usual with the war and the economy even though people are dying by the thousands. He has no doubts about his own power, though, imagining himself a direct threat to the President for speaking the truth, while lording over his manor with the air of a benevolent autocrat. Jay has this much power, and his sole ambition is getting more.

What does the fake chef want, though? That's the mystery at the center of this story, which plays as a dark comedy with the underpinnings of, since we see first Floyd with a gun and a dead body, a thriller and, because the politics and a worldwide epidemic of the era reflect our own times, a satire. With the key to the story's actual intentions left a cypher for so long, the movie and its own goals become one, as well.

There is some wicked enjoyment to be found here, however, before the stakes escalate and the message becomes muddled for keeping it from us for long. As the title suggests, Floyd is a bit of a rebel among the other servants, whom Jay insists upon calling "staff," of the estate.

Upon arriving at the mansion on Egg Island, Floyd is welcomed with some hostility by the maid Mrs. McMurray (Kristine Nielsen), who has been with the family since before Jay was born, and seemingly sincere geniality by the master of the house. Assuming he'll be staying in one of the manor's many rooms, Floyd's first disappointment comes upon learning he'll be living in the staff's cottage on the grounds with Mrs. McMurray, governess Mrs. Tidwell (Skye P. Marshall), and driver Kaan (Faran Tahir). It's not enough.

Here, then, comes the rub. Is Floyd an actual threat to Jay, his wife Julie (Sarah Gadon), their children, and/or the rest of the staff, and if so, what kind of threat is he? Is he simply some anonymous con man, hoping to take advantage of the situation, or is there a specific reason he has included Jay in his scheme? The questions linger, particularly because the movie suggests Floyd may be a murderer, and Sarsgaard's performance possesses just enough underlying menace that it's tough to see these two opponents as being on equal ground in terms of their moral flaws.

Even so, the story proceeds as if there's a balanced footing in the matchup. Jay's hypocrisy begins to show, as he lies about being on the ground in New York City to make a stronger case for protecting workers by shutting down businesses. It gets him national attention, including from fellow muckraker Upton Sinclair (Fisher Stevens), and the idea of becoming famous and a political leader in the Progressive Party is far too appealing to start being honest now.

Meanwhile, Floyd begins to rally his fellow staff members (after conniving to get a troublesome one out of the way) for higher wages, better accommodations, and more freedom in their downtime. Julie is sympathetic to the cause, especially after the flu arrives on the island, but Jay becomes increasingly irritated by the challenges to his power and begins seeing conspiracies everywhere—possibly missing the one that's unfolding right in front of him.

Despite the specificity of period in the movie (in terms of its content, which shows the filmmakers did their homework, and the elements of its production design), it ultimately speaks only in broad terms about an assortment of things: class conflict, the insincerity of top-down populism, the ravages of a pandemic, and the ancillary consequences of fighting one. If there's a particular point that Schuman and Stark are making here, it might be too muddied by the direct parallels to far more recent events, figures, and institutions.

The most compelling idea, then, of Coup! comes when the movie ignores the politics and gets at something even broader still: human nature, especially what people are willing to do in order to survive. There's a stretch of the story, at the height of Floyd's attempt and Jay's lowest, that transforms the central conflict into simply that. For all the flourishes of period detail and modern-day connections on display, it's the basic and most uncomplicated idea that feels the strongest—as briefly as that may exist here.

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