Review - Carnage

After one child assaults another in the playground, the parents of the two children involved convene at the victim’s apartment to try to resolve the issue in a mature manner. They don’t succeed.



Exiled filmmaker Roman Polanski brings together a strong cast for his take on the original French play by Yasmina Reza, who also worked with him on this latest adaptation. The structure remains steadfastly stagebound – a single set, a small number of characters and situations which don’t rely on many cinematic techniques. But, for the most part, it’s utterly riveting.

Chiefly that’s down to the strong performances – by Foster and Reilly as the liberal parents of the child who was attacked and Christophe Waltz and Kate Winslet as the second pair. What begins in a disagreement about the wording of a typed statement, from lawyer Waltz, continues in feigned politeness, failed attempts to leave and interpersonal chaos.

Polanski ratchets up the tension in a superbly controlled way – pitching different characters against each other and even setting former allies on each other’s throats. Family allegiances don’t hold long and insights into the relationships of the participants soon filter out as alcohol enters the equation. A blaring cell phone, force-fed cobbler and even bodily functions are all used expertly to further the real time narrative, while things get steadily worse.

John C. Reilly begins the piece as a mediator, keen to keep the tones even and end this ill-advised meeting as soon as possible. But the cracks soon begin to show in this grating character and his metamorphosis over time, and several glasses of particularly good scotch, is a joy to watch. Foster fares a little less well, perhaps because her role requires a certain shrillness that’s difficult to bear but she captures the self righteous tone perfectly.

Waltz is the most outrageous of the bunch and gets the best lines but never reveals much of a personality behind the stereotype of a businessman who spends a lot of time on his cell phone. Winslet might steal the acting honours here – she’s the most mercurial and perhaps the most realistic, torn between remonstrating her husband and fiercely defending the merits of her family.

Carnage is an exploration of the futility of a mature response to something as animalistic as protecting your offspring. But it also has something to say about people’s real opinions about the very act of having children and the divides along gender lines are telling. But before the themes make it sounds too uncomfortable and arthouse, Carnage is also absolutely hilarious. The script is sharply cruel and no one emerges unscathed but that just adds up to more entertainment value for the audience.

Some viewers may find the ending off-putting but for me it was a perfectly reasonable resolution. Polanski does good work here, even if it is for the most part a straight retelling of the play and four talented actors on form make for nothing less than a highly entertaining 80 minutes.