This film is part of Rentals
The Party
Following some unexpected revelations, a celebration quickly takes a turn for the worse in Sally Potter's razor-sharp comedy.
Director: Sally Potter
Overview
A brilliant ensemble cast get their teeth stuck into Britain’s political elite in Sally Potter’s biting and supremely entertaining satire. Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas) has just been appointed Shadow Minister for Health and has invited some friends around to celebrate. Her dazed husband (Timothy Spall) seems happy enough to see razor-tongued April (Patricia Clarkson), but struggles to check his intolerance of flagrant new-ager Gottfried (Bruno Ganz). Next to arrive are Martha (Cherry Jones), described by April as ‘a first-class lesbian and a second-rate thinker’, and her wife Jinny (Emily Mortimer), but things seriously derail when unhinged and chemically-enhanced banker Tom (Cillian Murphy) bursts in looking for his wife.
Dinner always appears to be on the cusp of being served but never quite arrives - as in Luis Buñuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, the guests remain hungry and volatile. The film, however, serves up a full course of character dissections, with Potter’s spit-fire dialogue and Aleksei Rodionov’s prowling camera revealing much more than the individual ambitions and petty grievances of the guests. Written in the lead-up to the 2015 British General Election, Potter’s potent, funny and deliciously nasty film relishes stripping bare characters who fail ‘to keep to their own party-line of what is morally right and politically left’.
Related
Hotel Splendide Hotel Splendide
Comedy 1932 53 mins Director: Michael Powell
Music hall veteran Jerry Verno stars as a lowly clerk who gets more than he bargained for when he inherits a hotel, in Michael Powell's charming comedy.
Ballywalter Ballywalter
Comedy 2020 90 mins Director: Prasanna Puwanarajah
Seána Kerslake is superb as caustic cab driver, Eileen, who makes an unlikely connection with regular passenger and local comedian, Shane (Patrick Kielty), in Prasanna Puwanarajah’s charming debut.
Little English Little English
Comedy 2022 99 mins Director: Pravesh Kumar
A raucous and audacious comedy following the lives of a dysfunctional British Punjabi family.
Something Always Happens Something Always Happens
Comedy 1934 70 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s sprightly comedy about a freeloading charmer who romances the daughter of a wealthy petrol station owner.
Joy Ride Joy Ride
Comedy 2023 95 mins
Four unlikely friends embark on a once-in-a-lifetime international adventure in this riotous and unapologetically explicit story of identity and self-discovery.
The Innocent The Innocent
Comedy 2022 98 mins Director: Louis Garrel
Louis Garrel’s unique French comedy-heist-romantic-thriller comes loaded with charm and humour.
God's Own Country God's Own Country
Drama 2017 105 mins Director: Francis Lee
A troubled young sheep farmer falls for a hired hand in this stunning debut from Francis Lee.
The Florida Project The Florida Project
Drama 2017 112 mins Director: Sean Baker
Tangerine director Sean Baker presents another visionary take on the wild ups and dangerous downs of life in America’s underbelly, featuring an Oscar-nominated turn from Willem Dafoe.
Menashe Menashe
Drama 2017 83 mins Director: Joshua Z Weinstein
This story of a widower's struggle to reclaim his child is both a funny, moving drama and an insight into the world of New York's Yiddish-speaking Hasidic community.
Loveless Loveless
Drama 2017 127 mins Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Andrey Zvyagintsev (Elena, Leviathan) delivers a masterpiece in this caustic look at contemporary Russian society, a failed marriage and the disappearance of a child. A major prize winner at both Cannes and BFI London Film Festival.
Apostasy Apostasy
Drama 2018 95 mins Director: Dan Kokotajlo
A deeply religious family must decide whether to stick by their relation or abandon her, in this striking debut from Daniel Kokotajlo - a prizewinner at BFI London Film Festival 2017.
The Happy Prince The Happy Prince
Biopic 2018 105 mins Director: Rupert Everett
Rupert Everett astounds as Oscar Wilde, depicting the fallen star in the final years of his life, in this heartfelt and captivating passion project.
Chicken Run Chicken Run
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2000 84 mins Director: Peter Lord and Nick Park
Mel Gibson’s Rocky the rooster helps the chickens escape from fascistic farmers in Aardman Animations first foray into feature films.
Spencer Spencer
Drama 2021 117 mins Director: Pablo Larraín
Pablo Larraín's sublime ‘fable from a true story’ imagines a Christmas weekend at Sandringham in the early 1990s, as an unhappy Princess Diana contemplates saying ‘no’.
Mrs Lowry & Son Mrs Lowry & Son
Biopic 2018 92 mins Director: Adrian Noble
Timothy Spall brings to life beloved British artist L. S. Lowry, as he struggles with his relationship to his bed-ridden, bitter and overbearing mother (Vanessa Redgrave).
Early Man Early Man
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2018 89 mins Director: Nick Park
In Aardman’s latest animated adventure, Caveman Dug and his pet hog, Hognog, must unite their tribe if they're are to survive the threat of pompous tyrant Lord Nooth.
Dream Demon Dream Demon
Fantasy 1988 89 mins Director: Harley Cokliss
A young woman becomes haunted by terrifying dreams, which soon begin to pull people around her into a nightmarish netherworld.
Death Defying Acts Death Defying Acts
Drama 2008 93 mins Director: Gillian Armstrong
The great illusionist Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) meets his match when the charming and manipulative Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) magically appears in his life.
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Comedy 2012 111 mins Director: Lasse Hallström
Two London office workers find love on a Yemeni Sheikh's ambitious fishing scheme. Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt star.
The Invisible Woman The Invisible Woman
Biopic 2014 111 mins Director: Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes directs and stars in this adaptation of Claire Tomalin’s book about the long-standing affair between Charles Dickens and Nelly Ternan.
Richard III Richard III
Drama 1996 104 mins Director: Richard Loncraine
Ian McKellen and Richard Loncraine’s bold restaging transplants Shakespeare’s play to an imagined 1930s fascist Britain.
Easy Virtue Easy Virtue
Comedy 2008 97 mins Director: Stephan Elliott
Jessica Biel plays the brash American fiancée who disrupts an upper-class family in this delightful Downton Abbey-esque tale of high-society hijinks.
Orlando Orlando
Fantasy 1993 93 mins Director: Sally Potter
Tilda Swinton stars in Sally Potter's dazzling interpretation of Virginia Woolf's novel.
The Gold Diggers The Gold Diggers
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1984 89 mins Director: Sally Potter
The ground-breaking first feature from Sally Potter (Orlando, Ginger and Rosa) is a key film in early 1980s feminist cinema.
Ginger & Rosa Ginger & Rosa
Drama 2012 90 mins Director: Sally Potter
Teenage friendship is torn apart when Rosa finds love in the wrong place, in Sally Potter's acute, 60s-set drama.
Four Daughters Four Daughters
Drama-documentary 2023 103 mins Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
The mother-daughter relationship is explored to cathartic effect in this complex and poignant hybrid documentary about a woman and her missing daughters.
Her Last Affaire Her Last Affaire
Drama 1936 68 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell's 'society drama’ involving suspicion, clandestine romance and presumed murder, and glorious comic double-act from Googie Withers and John Lurie.
She Will She Will
Thriller 2021 96 mins Director: Charlotte Colbert
In Charlotte Colbert’s strikingly gothic film, an ageing actor recovering from a mastectomy taps into a mysterious power at a remote Scottish retreat.
Rynox Rynox
Crime 1932 46 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s earliest existing film is a twisty thriller crafted with a bold visual style that is unmistakeably influenced by Fritz Lang.
Hotel Splendide Hotel Splendide
Comedy 1932 53 mins Director: Michael Powell
Music hall veteran Jerry Verno stars as a lowly clerk who gets more than he bargained for when he inherits a hotel, in Michael Powell's charming comedy.
The Night of the Party The Night of the Party
Crime 1934 61 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s fun stage adaptation about a murder at a society party, with characterful performances from its fine ensemble cast.