Coup!

Coup! is a 2023 American dark comedy film written and directed by Austin Stark and Joseph Schuman. It stars Peter Sarsgaard, Billy Magnussen, Sarah Gadon, Skye P. Marshall, Faran Tahir, Kristine Nielsen, and Fisher Stevens. Sarsgaard and Magnussen also served as executive producers of the film. It is the first collaboration between writer-director team Austin Stark and Joseph Schuman. Set during the 1918 flu pandemic, the film follows a rebellious servant who leads a revolt against his wealthy employer.

Coup! premiered in the Giornate degli Autori section of the 80th Venice International Film Festival on 8 September 2023. The film is scheduled for wide release in the United States on August 2, 2024, by Greenwich Entertainment.

Plot
Isolated on a seaside estate during the First World War and the 1918 influenza epidemic, a rich and entitled Progressive journalist (Billy Magnussen) and his socialite wife (Sarah Gadon) take in a mysterious grifter (Peter Sarsgaard) as a private cook. When the contagion descends on the island, the wily cook rouses the staff of the estate to insurrection and they take over the mansion. Their wealthy employer suspects the cook’s coup is part of a more sinister agenda, and mind games between master and servant escalate into class warfare.

Cast

 * Peter Sarsgaard as Floyd Monk
 * Billy Magnussen as Jay
 * Sarah Gadon as Julie
 * Skye P. Marshall as Mrs. Tidwell
 * Faran Tahir as Kaan
 * Kristine Nielsen as Mrs. McMurray
 * Fisher Stevens as Upton Sinclair
 * Callum Vinson as Tom
 * Willa Dunn as Molly

Production
In November 2022, it was announced that Sarsgaard, Magnussen, Gadon, Marshall, Tahir, Nielsen and Stevens would appear in the film.

In February 2023, it was announced that principal photography wrapped in New Jersey.

Release
Coup! premiered in the 'Giornate degli Autori' section of the Venice Film Festival on September 8th 2023. It was subsequently screened at various film festivals, including the Glasgow Film Festival, Moscow International Film Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Filmfest Hamburg, and São Paulo International Film Festival.

In February 2024, it was announced that Greenwich Entertainment would distribute Coup! in North America. The film is scheduled for theatrical release in the United States on August 2, 2024.

Reception
In his review for Variety, Guy Lodge described the film as "fleet and frisky at just 97 minutes, tidily but not ostentatiously crafted, and in thrall to the pleasurably low-stakes sport of watching one scoundrel outwit another."

Leslie Felperin, in her review for The Hollywood Reporter, praised Peter Sarsgaard's performance and the movie: "Although Coup! has a small cast and unfolds mostly in a secluded mansion during the 1918 influenza pandemic, it packs a lot of flavor, suspense and droll comedy into its slim 97-minute running time."

Xan Brooks of The Guardian wrote about the film: "It is bright and assured and thoroughly enjoyable in the moment, even if its line of satire feels glib and its anger ever so slightly concocted."