If you’re making a comedy set during a plague, it kinda has to be a dark comedy, right? In the case of Coup!, the background is the 1918 Spanish Flu which killed north of 50 million people. But even as a pandemic raged, the seeds of revolution were planted in one wealthy household.
Peter Sarsgaard, Billy Magnussen, and Sarah Gadon star in Coup!, about a rich family who hire a grifter to be their personal cook during the plague. But not long after bringing him into their home, the cook begins rallying the other servants to rebel and take over the mansion.
Also in the cast are Skye P. Marshall, Faran Tahir, Kristine Nielsen, and Fisher Stevens. The film is written and directed by Austin Stark and Joseph Schuman. Stark is known for his recent films The God Committee and The Runner.
SYNOPSIS: Isolated on a seaside estate during the 1918 Spanish Flu, an entitled journalist (Billy Magnussen) and his socialite wife (Sarah Gadon) take in a mysterious grifter as a private cook (Peter Sarsgaard). When the plague descends on the island, the wily cook rouses his fellow staff to rebel and take over the mansion. Their wealthy employer suspects the cook’s coup is part of a more sinister agenda, and mind games between master and servant escalate into boisterous class warfare.
Coup! hits theaters on August 2nd.
