Headlined by a devilishly good Peter Sarsgaard, Coup! is a deliciously entertaining blend of dark comedy and grifter thriller that delves into issues of class, the media, and the thin line between civilization and savagery.

Directed and written by Joseph Schuman (his feature film debut) and Austin Stark (The God Committee), Coup! features one of my favourite lines of the year: “Nature brings out the beast in some and the beauty in others.”

This is a statement of fact for many who during the last few years (in which a global pandemic was piled on top of civil unrest and the decreasing influence of once respected institutions) found their lives forever changed. As isolation begat reflection begat uncomfortable transparency, the stark nature of our new reality and where we stood in it was a stern reminder that a touch of chaos is all that’s needed to shake our foundations to the core.

Mankind has confronted such existential crises before. Coup! is set during one of those times, with its story taking place in 1918 New York where the death toll of those killed by the Spanish Flu is higher than that of US soldiers during WWI.

Sitting comfortable in the (fictional) island mansion of Egg Island is Jay “J.C.” Horton (Billy Magnussen) a wealthy progressive journalist whose articles urge revolution against President Wilson, an idealist crusade in which Horton often fabricates stories to elevate his own legend. Into Horton’s “Eden” slithers Floyd Monk (Peter Sarsgaard), the newly employed chef who has a sinister agenda: burn down Horton’s entitled and pretentious existence by exposing his cloistered bleeding-heart ideals to the light of grim reality.

The methods with which Monk does this are ingeniously cruel in psychology and (darkly) funny in execution. Sarsgaard brings a captivating seductive quality to his bohemian chef who - despite being villainous in nature - is a strangely sympathetic character driven by a righteous anger towards the elites who proclaim virtue yet lack authenticity in their actions.

Magnussen compliments with a turn that also successfully plays both sides of the moral divide in the portrayal of a character whose pursuit of power and influence is mistaken as “doing the greater good”. Sarah Gadon is also excellent as Julie Horton, the socialite wife of Jay whose loyalties are torn between authenticity and wealth.

Attractive cinematography by Conor Murphy (The Wretched) captures the varied New Jersey locations used in Coup! that is superbly transformed to early 1900s New York by production designer Deana Sidney (Experimenter) and costume designer Stacy Jansen (Asphalt City). A lullaby-esque score by Nathan Halpern (Emily the Criminal), meanwhile, provides the right amount of playful ambience.

It is Schuman and Stark, though, who are the real stars of Coup! Not only have the filmmaking duo (and lifelong friends) delivered a witty, intelligent, and charismatic film, but in Coup! they have also delivered a story both timely and timeless; a stern and depressing reminder of humanities ability to “never let a good crisis go to waste.”