Coup! is a spirited period piece set during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 on a fictional island adjacent to New York City. The rub here is that this servant, who is a double agent, initiates an internal domestic upheaval. In contrast, the movie borrows from the COVID “white flight,” where the rich secluded themselves and managed to maintain tributes as those at the lower class suffered greatly.
In New York City’s streets, it isn’t business as usual since Spanish flu runs rampant. Fake Floyd (Sarsgaard) doesn’t have many possessions but he walks past a horse-drawn cart with dead bodies being loaded onto it. He has to catch that ferry and start his life afresh among the well-off people.
Meanwhile, on their Egg Island estate, Jay Horton (Magnussen), a wealthy scion and famous muckraker (or investigative reporter), types his latest screed against President Woodrow Wilson. Everything should be shut down immediately with a national quarantine ordered to safeguard America’s working poor. Why should they suffer while the lucky few retreat in opulence? Jay regrets pretending to be out there when he was not hit by any pandemic. As hypocritical as it sounds, Jay has been taking refuge in a mansion alongside his spouse Julie (Sarah Gadon), two young kids and some staff who are ready to oblige them in anything.
This is how Floyd comes into picture serving as the Hortons’ new chef. They’re vegetarians who dogmatically preach strict non-violence. Their fiercely loyal and protective head maid, Mrs. McMurray (Kristine Nielsen), lays down the house rules to the smirking newcomer. He looks enviously at her grand abode only for him to discover that staff doesn’t reside with Hortons’. They are forced by circumstances to share rooms at nearby tiny cottage; Hortons want space because they dread catching diseases.
Sarsgaard’s mischievous grin and twinkling eyes don’t betray his agenda. What does the fake Floyd have in his mind? Is he planning something sinister for the Hortons? Filmmakers Austin Stark (Infinitely Polar Bear, The Runner) and Joseph Schuman keep those answers close to the vest as Floyd cleverly insinuates himself into every situation.
The servants see Jay and Julie as kind employers who are genuinely concerned about the less privileged. They are grateful for their jobs while others remain jobless. Floyd’s initially subtle sarcasm and snide replies create a foundation for brewing discontent. Why should ‘the help’ live on top of each other like rats when there are so many empty rooms? Is not their wellbeing important too?
The depletion of food supplies, increase in flu casualties and ferries from the city stopping eventually creep its way to Egg Island. It is no longer a haven but rather a prison with little resources. It is difficult to be a vegan pacifist when there is no more vegetarian food, bread or fruit. Floyd now begins to holler across the house. Jay’s exclusionary tastes won’t feed his wife, kids or anyone else in his family lines. How is the lord of the manor supposed to act? Coup! shifts into high gear when Floyd decides it’s time for a real provider.
Jay becomes increasingly paranoid about Floyd’s slow-moving power grab that he feels worthless about himself. For all his wealth, Jay remains an obvious hypocrite, an arrogant ruler and an authority-obsessed maniac whose true identity cannot be hidden away forever by mere claims of hypocrisy, arrogance and lust for power; however hard he may try.
Magnussen is having a deserving moment after being strong support in films such as Bridge of Spies, Game Night, No Time to Die (2020), Maniac (2018), especially Made for Love where he plays this spineless coward twisting with uncertainty here and we’re looking forward to when he teams up with Veep creator Armando Iannucci and director Sam Mendes for The Franchise – their upcoming series; until that satire comes out though Coup! will do with its cleverly paced witty haves versus have-nots lesson which is still smartly done.”
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