Carnage. The movie opens with a group of children in a park. Ethan Longstreet (Eliot Berger) is seen arguing with Zachary Cowan (Elvis Polanski). Ethan has a group of young boys behind him. Zachary is seen carrying a stick. After what looks like a heated exchange, Zachary uses the stick and strikes Ethan in the face.
The movie switches to the Longstreet home where the two sets of parents are discussing the matter. We have Penelope Longstreet (Jodie Foster), Michael Longstreet (John C. Reilly), Nancy Cowan (Kate Winslet) and Alan Cowan (Christoph Waltz). The vast majority of the movie takes place in the confined space of either the Longstreet condo/apartment or the hallway near the elevator. Ethan has suffered some dental damage. Both sets of parents agree that Zachary must apologize to Ethan. Of course, this is where we start to delve into the mindset of these four individuals. Penelope wants an honest apology. She wants Zachary to want to apologize to her son Ethan. She isn’t satisfied that the Cowans plan to require Zachary apologize. No, he has to want to do so. From there we do a deep dive into what I believe this movie is all about: dynamics and conversations. We get to see how the two husbands don’t necessarily get along, but still form an alliance. The wives feel they must keep discussing the matter from various angles. And throughout the conversation, they are so focused in on what the others are saying that they are constantly pointing out potential hypocrisies and disconnects in statements.
There is also the underlying tensions based on social status. Though not stated, the Cowans are wealthy. Alan is a well paid attorney who actually spends a significant amount of time during the movie talking to a CEO of a top medical corporation. Nancy is a stock broker. The Longstreets are more middle class (I couldn’t help but wonder how they could afford their condo/apartment) with Penelope a writer of books that focus in on the struggles of Africa while Michael owns a wholesale business.
Though movies that focus primarily on conversations sometimes bore me (such as A Tree of Life), I found myself intrigued by this movie. The conversations were interesting and you could easily see how these intelligent individuals found themselves in a total mess by the end of the movie. And there are plenty of laughs, especially when they attempt to poke holes into discrepancies that popped up (discrepancies that would of course occur when talking for around an hour).
And perhaps the most important question in this movie: where are the kids by the way?
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