The Oath

Some films are not easily classified: Ike Barinholtz's The Oath is just such a puzzle. The prospect of seeing a comedic take on Thanksgiving with current liberal and conservative divisions in many families was tantalizing.

However, The Oath turns into a black comedy at best and bloody Straw Dogs home invasion at worst. Chris (Ike Barinholtz), a liberal, tries to understand why anyone would sign a government loyalty oath (Think Trump's National Loyalty Day, May 1) today in democratic USA. His brother, Pat (Jon Barinholtz) and most of his family, has signed, leading to Chris trying to avoid confrontations with little luck.

With two Citizens Protection Unit operatives arriving unannounced, the contentious Thanksgiving dinner turns into a bloody confrontation between these enforcers of the oath and the growingly isolated, liberal Chris.

For sure there are laughs at the extreme ends of the political spectrum, both sides evidencing ignorance and moved more by the movements themselves rather than deep-seated beliefs. Yet both sides are capable of cruelty and violence, and even Chris and his loving wife, Kai (Tiffany Haddish) are capable of turning on each other.

The animosities are made real by today's polarized politics, so that the absurdist humor can resonate in all its hyperbole. Although the ending should satisfy both sides, and for sure the liberals, nonetheless all sides should be able to fear the extremes to which the citizenry can go and embrace a humanism that doesn't force anyone to turn on family.

After all, it is Thanksgiving, and I feel confident your family will be kind and loving. It's the others you have to worry about.

This dark drama has touches of humor, but also, it's Straw Dogs for political extremists. The Oath is a surprisingly acidic commentary on our partisan culture today.

I wasn't expecting a great deal from this, but was pleasantly surprised. I liked the cast, and in truth this lured me in more than the storyline. I was genuinely entertained, and for a political comedy it did well. We reflected on the similarity to Brexit, and let's be honest, we need a film that adds humour to the political divide. I felt it could have been more couple-led rather than the main male lead, as actually Christina Milan could have been so much more than a supporting role - more akin to date night / game night / lovebirds in terms of equal leading roles. Overall, enjoyable and not at all predictable.

The Oath is an example of a relatively new genre that I suppose we can expect to see more of: the political horror movie. The thumbnail describes it cheerfully as "a man struggles to keep his politically divided family from falling apart over the Thanksgiving holiday." Nuh uh. It's actually a plausible scenario for a fascist takeover in America. Appropriately, it sneaks up on you. It starts out as a light comedy -- a good excuse to munch through a bucket of popcorn -- then seems to veer off course, becoming uncomfortably raw. And then things head south. Predictably some critics have called it out for inconsistency of tone -- missing the point. Billy Magnusson steals the show with a late appearance as an agent for the Citizens Protection Unit.

So here's an honest review ,, no politics , just the movie ,, which what the users need to read ,, if you wanna read politics go to the pages of FOX or CNN and fight there ..

The movie plot is genuine ,,, extreme and bold yet enjoyable .. for the thrill and drama the genre was satisfying ,, as for the comedy ,, it wasn't as i hoped for , but there were actually few funny enjoyable moments, but not laughable .. The screenplay is by Ike Barinholtz which is also the director and the lead ,, and i like the guy ,, he was hilarious in The Mindy Project, presenting that innocent spontaneous comedy , which sadly was lacking in here ,, but i think he's all grown up now "as an entertainer" so . the movie showed a bit of that intense on-edge comedy, but still wasn't "hilarious".

Anyway , as for the cast ,, beside Ike ,, i like Tiffany Haddish ,, this year is her year with 4 blockbuster movies and a series with Tracy Morgan ,, so she's doing good ,, the whole cast were good overall... John Cho was also funny is his few lines :D

Final thought,, These 1 star reviewers saying this is an anti trump propaganda ,, and trump wasn't even once mentioned, in fact they said in the end "the president house in North Carolina", so How did these reviewers know its about trump !! or is it because they believe that the only one would do such thing is trump ?! I don't know ;) This is a movie about a family thanksgiving mess... full-stop.

Ok, I do have to start by acknowledging that this is an extremely political movie & it does have a general feel to it of, "If you don't share our exact political views, then you're a moron... & probably evil..." But somehow, despite that, it's still a relatively decent movie. I think it would have been better if the third act (the action) had come quite a bit sooner, & I really could have done with less shoving of political views down my throat. The acting was surprisingly good, though, & I think they did manage to bring up the thoughts & emotions that they were going for. I'll give them that. Overall, it did provoke some thought & it wasn't a complete waste of time. Oddly enough, I think the group I would recommend this to the most would actually be conservatives (like me) who don't mind their beliefs being questioned.