The aim is to celebrate. The bubbles are ready, and the guests – a small group of close friends – get together: three cheers to Janet, who has been appointed Minister of Health of the opposition party's shadow cabinet! But then Janet's husband drops a bombshell and the mood turns sour. But it wasn't the best atmosphere to begin with: tension was in the air, undertones could be sensed and the glances were revealing. Jealousy? Mistrust? Discord? Definitely! And much more! What starts as a light comedy in an instant turns into a biting tragicomedy; but the changes between major and minor, between satire, irony, sarcasm and cynicism remain unpredictable and therefore always come as a surprise.
With The Party, the renowned British filmmaker Potter stages her own screenplay as a masterful chamber piece in black and white, which lives off its proverbial, sharp-tongued dialogues and the stellar cast members – including a cocain-unleashed Cilian Murphy and a terrifyingly impeccable Patricia Clarkson – who use dialogue to fight their battles: the everyday one between man and woman and the political one between pragmatism and idealism. An evil pleasure.
