‘Coup!’: A COVID-Like Comedy About Incipient Communism

Floyd Monk (Peter Saarsgard) is a disruptive member of Mr. Horton's household staff in "Coup!" (Spencer Pazer/Greenwich Entertainment)

| 1h 38m | Thriller, Comedy | Aug. 2, 2024

Austin Stark’s satire, “Coup!” is little comedic tale of social class insurgency that takes place during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. With parallels of COVID-19 like lockdowns and mask mandates built in, it’s an opportunity for the filmmakers to muse about various topics like no guns, socialism, veganism, communism, and how sometimes rich folks who aim to give the poor the same privileges as themselves, sometimes get their wish.

What Goes On

J.C. Horton (Billy Magnussen) is a wealthy man holed up on Edgar Island, hoping the ravages of the Spanish Flu will blow over his luxurious mansion and estate.

Mrs. Horton (Sarah Gadon) thinks the journalistic lies her husband (Billy Magnussen) writes sound very believable, in "Coup!" (Spencer Pazer/Greenwich Entertainment)

Mr. Horton is benevolent to the help. He’s also a crusading but pampered journalist who writes a gritty, proto fake-news “frontline” column, wherein he reports on living conditions inside the plague-ridden city that he lives nowhere near: bodies in the streets! Brutal billy-club beatings by the police! Looting and ransacking!

He rails at the powers that be (including POTUS Woodrow Wilson) for their lethargic response to the pandemic, the plight of the working man, and women’s rights. Horton rationalizes his underhanded and disingenuous president-shaming thusly: “His deceptions are costing lives; mine are saving them!”

The smug Horton plans to run as a candidate for the newly formed progressive party, then slide into a seat in the Senate. After reading his “frontline reporting,” his wife thinks it’s just great, saying: “It does feel like you were really there!”

What Mr. Magnussen really does is creep about his mansion in the dark, in his silk bathrobe, with bated breath, hoping to fend off possible intruders. His weapons of defense are, alternatively, a badminton racquet and a croquet mallet.

Now, of course, if anyone were to, somehow, you know, confuse Horton with one of the working men he’s magnanimously going to bat for—alas—so be it. He’s soon, however, exposed by a magazine article calling him “the face of fraud.”

Floyd Monk (Peter Saarsgard) is a disruptive member of Mr. Horton's household staff, in "Coup!" (Spencer Pazer/Greenwich Entertainment)

Monk

Now that the stage is set for Mr. Horton’s quarantined house (along with wife, kids, and servants) to become a microcosm of class struggle, a fly in the ointment arrives in the form of one Floyd Monk (Peter Sarsgaard), a sly, charismatic grifter posing as the new chef. Monk appears to have stolen someone else’s identity.

Due to a food shortage, Floyd Monk (Peter Saarsgard) roasts venison he hunted himself, in "Coup!" Unfortunately his boss is a, er, vegan. Actually vegetarian since it's 1918. (Spencer Pazer/Greenwich Entertainment)

Monk’s got a Southern drawl, Southern charm, and soon sparks an uprising—a household revolution—by unionizing the help (mostly the maid and the chauffeur) and galvanizing them to demand double pay along with better conditions. Such as leaving the servants quarters and moving into the main house with their employer.

Monk even mushroom-poisons the most staunchly loyal and by-the-book (and annoying) member of the household staff, the housekeeper, causing her to upchuck on her employer, necessitating immediate removal from the island, because, clearly—she’s got the flu.

Monk is a wheelhouse role for Peter Sarsgaard. The character mildly spearheads a revolution in the same way Saarsgard’s character Harmon did in “Night Moves,“ where he switched from peaceful hippie to deadly eco-terrorist. Here he spans comedic insouciance to the deadly intent of the bourgeoisie manning the guillotine.

Floyd Monk (Peter Saarsgard, L) appears very concerned as Mr. Horton's (Billy Magnussen) housekeeper is taken to the hospital in "Coup!" (Spencer Pazer/Greenwich Entertainment)

Much to his horror, Mr. Jay Horton soon discovers his workers refusing to wear their uniforms, drinking his booze, and splashing about in his indoor pool. “This is not a democracy. This is my home!” hollers Horton.

But who is this chef? What does he represent? Could he maybe be a government agent? Horton calls him an “insurrectionist.” Class conflict in your face. This is most likely not going to turn out well.

Floyd Monk (Peter Saarsgard) and Mrs. Horton (Sarah Gadon) are about to discover why she married Mr. Horton only for his money, in "Coup!" (Spencer Pazer/Greenwich Entertainment)

Pandemic as Communist Window of Opportunity

Playing like a fun Marxist sitcom, “Coup!” appears to resist overt partisan finger-pointing about current events. But it’s hard to miss that the household revolution, highly reminiscent of the anarchy and incipient lawlessness, BLM entitlement, and rampant thievery of New York City in late 2020, only functions while the Spanish flu pandemic is in full swing, and there’s an electrical power outage on Edgar Island.

But then the power is restored. Things get back to normal. The help is fired. Life goes on. Just like all the ravaged store fronts in Times Square during COVID-19 are now thriving again.

I’m currently reading former Navy SEAL Jack Carr’s latest book, “Red Sky Mourning,” the latest in his “Terminal List” series. There, he talks about how the pandemic was a test by the powers that be to see how quickly citizens of the freedom-loving United States would willingly give up their freedoms. Not a bad thing to keep in mind while watching this breezy satirical microcosmic musing about communism taking root.

Promotional poster for "Coup!" (Spencer Pazer/Greenwich Entertainment)

‘Coup!’ Directors: Austin Stark, Joseph Schuman Starring: Peter Sarsgaard, Billy Magnussen, Fisher Stevens, Sarah Gadon, Skye P. Marshall, Faran Tahir, Kristine Nielsen, Callum Vinson, Willa Dunn MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes Release Date: Aug. 2, 2024 Rating: 3 stars out of 5

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