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The Oath (2018)
A controversial White House policy turns family member against family member in THE OATH, a savagely funny dark comedy about surviving life and Thanksgiving in the age of political tribalism. When Chris (Ike Barinholtz), a high-strung 24-hour progressive news junkie, and his more levelheaded wife Kai (Tiffany Haddish) learn that citizens are being asked to sign a loyalty oath to the President, their reaction is disbelief, followed by idealistic refusal. But as the Thanksgiving deadline to sign approaches, the combination of sparring relatives, Chris's own agitation and the unexpected arrival of two government agents (John Cho and Billy Magnussen) sends an already tense holiday dinner gathering completely off the rails. As timely as it is outrageous, THE OATH is a gleefully wicked reinvention of the traditional holiday comedy for our divisive political times.
7 March 1973, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
14 April 1956, Dallas, Texas, USA
16 June 1972, Seoul, South Korea
20 September 1993, Houma, Louisiana, USA
21 January 1969, Endwell, New York, USA
27 September 1974, Seattle, Washington, USA
4 June 1973, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
3 December 1979, Los Angeles, California, USA
29 April 1952, Chicago, Illinois, USA
4 September 1980, Dobbs Ferry, New York, USA
18 February 1977, Chicago, Illinois, USA
20 April 1985
November 21, 2018
Jokey white bro solidarity doesn't seem like the kind of understanding across difference that we need now.
October 29, 2018
The dynamic is familiar and funny... The second half isn't nearly as satisfying, but the film still works as caustic social satire.
October 18, 2018
One thing that's admirable about The Oath is that Barinholtz never apologizes.
October 25, 2018
With his eye keenly trained on the various ways ideology manifests as personality, Barinholtz wrings both hilarity and dread out of the chaotic moment before hope is lost.
December 16, 2018
The Oath is one of the year's comedic gems.
October 29, 2018
There are funny ideas brought up throughout but they're never fully developed because they're dropped by the second half of the film.
October 19, 2018
The Oath appears to crave several things at once, all diametrically opposed.
November 07, 2018
The Oath does not rise to the level of Pieces of April, but it offers outlandish satire amid family politics in the midst of a national situation that calls for little thanksgiving.
October 18, 2018
Political satire is one of the trickiest of genres; this one, running out of steam and nerve, ultimately becomes a too-familiar example of another genre: the 93-minute movie that feels way, way too long.
October 18, 2018
"The Oath" has a sharp tongue and plenty to say about our times. It's just too bad it can't finish the conversation.
October 24, 2018
[Barinholtz] lacks storytelling chops, aiming for wildly provocative satire but instead churning out a technically spotty screed.
October 18, 2018
I found it to be the equivalent of a free-swinging slugger who is willing to strike out once, twice, even three times - but then hits one clear out of the park. It's worth the risk-reward ratio.