Kristin Scott Thomas throws an intimate drinks party for seven special guests to celebrate her promotion to shadow Health Minister, and the interactions and hissy fits of her guests make the film. Timothy Spall as her husband Bill is in another world, cut off by loud jazz and the introspection from finding the moment to reveal he has a terminal illness, and is leaving her for another woman. The other guests all bring their own baggage and foibles, from a lesbian couple who announce they are having triplets (all boys, most likely) to Tom, the 'wanker banker' (Cillian Murphy) who snorts coke in the bathroom and prepares to assassinate various guests with his concealed pistol, interspersed with attempts to ditch the weapon in the rubbish bin.
The film is an up to the minute satirical look at politics and modern society - but raises more than it settles. The writing is to the point, tight, at times hilarious and at others absurdist - a highlight of the show. It's a tight, lean affair, less than an hour and a half; shot in subtly lit black and white and set in a comfortably secure and upmarket inner London townhouse. I thought it may have been adapted from the stage, but it seems Sally Potter wrote and directed it from her own original story. The casting is uniformly good, with A list actors making the most of their opportunities.
The film is an up to the minute satirical look at politics and modern society - but raises more than it settles. The writing is to the point, tight, at times hilarious and at others absurdist - a highlight of the show. It's a tight, lean affair, less than an hour and a half; shot in subtly lit black and white and set in a comfortably secure and upmarket inner London townhouse. I thought it may have been adapted from the stage, but it seems Sally Potter wrote and directed it from her own original story. The casting is uniformly good, with A list actors making the most of their opportunities.