Adapted by Roman Polanski and playwright Yasmina Reza from her Tony award-winning play The God of Carnage, Carnage is a one-scene comic drama which exposes the hypocrisy, double-thinking and charmlessness of the modern bourgeoisie.
The action takes place in real time, in the Brooklyn apartment of the Longstreets (Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly), whose son has been hit with a stick in the playground. The Longstreets have invited round the Cowans (Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz), the parents of his assailant, to try to come to an amicable resolution.
But what starts out as a civilised meeting rapidly descends into an ugly argument and some enjoyably bad behaviour, as each character drops their guard to reveal what they’re really thinking. All too believable dialogue and fired-up, Oscar-friendly performances from all four stars make Carnage a funny and ascerbic take on marriage, family, taste, success and every other subject that occupies the educated classes.
