111 min | R | October 29, 2025 | Lionsgate
A political thriller that forgot to include either politics or thrills. Strong cast wasted on a story that refuses to commit.
I wanted this to work. The setup has promise. A wealthy couple’s anniversary party disrupted by their son’s new girlfriend. Turns out she’s a former student the mother expelled for radical politics. Family tension meets ideological conflict. Should write itself.
Instead we get two hours of floating. The movie can’t decide who the villain is. Is it Liz, Phoebe Dynevor’s radical student? Dylan O’Brien’s son Josh who brought her? Some shadowy corporate force? The film keeps all options open and commits to none. That’s not ambiguity. That’s indecision.
Diane Lane and Kyle Chandler deliver strong performances in service of material that doesn’t deserve them. The individual scenes work well enough on their own, but nothing connects into a coherent whole. Plot points arrive and disappear without consequence, and character decisions don’t build toward anything meaningful.
If you’re making a morality tale about political division tearing families apart, you need a moral point of view. Pick a side. Make an argument. Let the audience disagree. This film wants the prestige of Important Themes without the courage to actually say anything. The political edge is dull because no one sharpened it. Director Jan Komasa creates atmosphere but forgot to give it purpose. Frustrating waste of talent and premise.