The Party(2018)

R
1h 11m
- Comedy
- Drama

Release Date: Feb 16, 2018 | Limited

Janet hosts a party to celebrate her new promotion, but once the guests arrive, it becomes clear that not everything will be going down as smoothly as the red wine.

Official Website

Releases

Original Release | Feb 16, 2018

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Box Office Results

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$37,396
Total US & Canada:
$749,827
Total International
$4,848,123
Total Worldwide:
$5,597,950

Current Showtimes

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(U.S. Only)

Director & Top Cast

Sally Potter
Director

Brigitte Fossey
Actor

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Aspect Ratio 2.35:1

Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United Kingdom,Denmark

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

The first shot shows us a woman, stressed with her hair almost messy. In the nest seconds, she points a gun at us and we're not sure if she's gonna pull the trigger or not. Screen smashes to black and the film's title and opening credits are revealed.Janet, a politician for the opposition party, has just been announced shadow minister for health and is having a small celebratory party at her house. Invited are her friends April, with her estranged German partner Gottfried, a life coach and self-proclaimed spiritual healer, Women's studies professor Martha, with her partner Jinny, a renowned chef, and Janet's colleague and subordinate Marianne with husband Tom, a banker.Before the party begins and even after the guests arrive, Janet's husband Bill sits in his chair, listening to music, staring vacantly, and drinking wine. All invited guests come, with the exception of Marianne, who Tom says will arrive later due to extra work.Tom agrees Marianne will come "For supper or for coffee".Tom is extremely nervous and immediately locks himself in the bathroom, where he sniffs some cocaine, examines a gun he has brought with him and encourages himself in the mirror.While the party is running, Janet is exchanging secret phone calls and messages with an unknown lover.April tries to open a bottle of champagne which results in the cap running off the bottle and breaking a window. As Janet is cleaning up, one of the broken glasses marks her leg. She takes out the glass and the party still goes on.After April, who continually belittles and insults Gottfried, speaks a toast for Janet, Martha and Jinny announce that Jinny is pregnant with three boys. This is immediately followed by Bill announcing that he has just been informed by his doctor that he is terminally ill. Gottfried tells him that modern medicine is not to be believed and that by becoming spiritual, Bill may have a chance of surviving. Bill, who is by the way a well-known atheist intellectual, seems to waver in his commitment to his beliefs and begins to listen to Gottfried.The little cakes Janet was baking burn and Jinny, joined by Tom, decide to clean the smoke coming out of the kitchen. An euphoric Tom braks the fire alarm that startles him, and after Jinny takes out the now-burned little cakes out of the oven, she spots Tom's gun hanging with him, which concerns her.Jinny walks to the bathroom and vomits. Outside, Tom asks her what's wrong, and "if what happened back there, had to do with me?" (the concern of Jinny for the gun), which Jinny responds with a yes. After events, she exits the bathroom and talks to Martha about it.Janet says that she will resign from her shadow minister position and will take care of Bill, but he announces that he is "leaving her for another woman". That concerns Janet who doesn't stops asking who's that other woman. Bill finally answers that the other woman is actually Marianne, a fact that Tom had also learned earlier this day. Jinny and Martha go to the backyard.Janet is afraid of losing control over Bill, and after she slapped him twice, she regrets and starts losing her mind. As she's about to do it a third time, Bill, yelling, furious, begs and urges her to do it, which results of Janet incapable of doing it.Gottfried tries to help and coach Tom and Bill, but their discussions escalate when Bill gushes about the love that Marianne and he share. Tom berates Bill and argues furiously with him, which ends up in Tom viciously punching Bill in the face, leaving him unconcious while his eyes are wide open. Tom and Gottfried try to wake him up: Gottfried tries waking him up in the typical medical style while Tom starts music for him to wake up. Sadly, he doesn't wake up. Tom becomes more desperate; thinking he killed Bill, and Gottfried says "there's nothing else to do". Gottfried and Tom fear that Tom has killed Bill and they try to seek help from the others, with sadly unfortunate results. Minutes later, Tom goes into the backyard, where he throws his gun into the dustbin and walks back inside.On the backyard, Jinny and Martha have a serious talk about the future and motherhood. Martha tries to make things up with a heartbroken Jinny, who agrees that after the party that "she doesn't want to see her again" and she "rathers doing all by herself". Jinny concludes saying that when the babies are born, she doesn't want Martha to be there. This leads Martha to confess to Jinny that she fears what will happen and to plead Jinny to stay with her.Meanwhile, a stressed out Janet throws the burned little cakes to the dustbin, and after she closes it, she notices the gun Tom had thrown away and takes it with her, locking herself in the bathroom and hiding the gun there. After making a last call, she throws her phone and cried. She lets April in and they talk about what happened. April, who has been cynical the whole time, is asked to speak honestly by Janet and tells her that she is proud of her accomplishments. That speech calms Janet who gives April a hug. Both embrace.Realizing there's nothing else to do, Gottfried tells Martha to call Janet. Martha knocks the door of the bathroom and tells April, and not Janet, to come. Obviously, April and Janet exit the bathroom and run to the scene. Janet, somehow, manages to resuscitate Bill, who looks her in the eyes and asks "how did it come to this?" At that moment, the doorbell rings, with everybody expecting it to be Marianne. Janet rushes to the bathroom and as she grabs the gun, a scared Tom urges her not to kill her and that "he's a good person". Janet exits the bathroom, runs to open the door and aims the gun at the visitor, who is invisible to the audience, and exclaims "You told me you loved me. ME! You traitor!" before it cuts to black. We're not sure if she's gonna pull the trigger at Marianne (at us) or not.And the end credits roll.The Party.

Storyline

To celebrate her long-awaited prestigious post as a Shadow Minister for Health and, hopefully, the stepping stone to party leadership, the newly-appointed British opposition politician, Janet, is throwing a party for friends at her London flat. Of course, in this select and intimate soirée, apart from Bill, Janet's self-denying academic husband, the elegant hostess has also invited a motley crew of elite, hand-picked guests: There's April, the sourly cynical American best friend; her unlikely German husband, Gottfried; there's also Jinny and Martha; and finally, Tom, the smooth banker in the impeccable suit. But inevitably, before dinner is served, the upbeat ambience will shatter to pieces, as festering secrets start surfacing, turning the otherwise happy event into the perfect domestic war-zone. Undoubtedly, after this night, things will never be the same again. — Nick Riganas