THE PARTY (2017)
An inventive dark satire with too little moral light.
Should You Watch It?
THE PARTY has real comic energy. Its black-and-white presentation, unexpected twists, and insightful lines can make dark-satire fans laugh hysterically or stare at the screen in disbelief. At only 71 minutes, it moves quickly from one conflict to another.
But the film’s strong content is not balanced by a clear moral compass. Its characters live by a “whatever goes” ethic, while adultery, strong language, cocaine use, violence, false religion, atheism, and overt homosexual content drive the story. The film also offers little or no redemption.
You may appreciate its wit and still conclude that its worldview and content cost too much. For your family or your own media choices, skip it.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESJanet hosts a dinner party to celebrate her promotion as a Shadow Minister of Health for England’s opposition party. Seven middle-class liberal friends gather, but mysterious conflicts soon unsettle the evening.
As secrets, relationships, beliefs, and political tensions surface, the expected celebration becomes an emotional war zone before dinner is even served. This dark British satire moves through a series of unexpected twists and turns among people who know one another very well—or think they do.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means THE PARTY has genuine entertainment value despite substantial flaws. The black-and-white presentation suits its dark British satire, and the film offers witty, insightful dialogue along with strange, unpredictable developments. Fans of dark satire may find it thoroughly enjoyable.
The short 71-minute running time is packed with conflicts, leaving little time to relax between them. The situations are intentionally overdramatic, inflated, and sometimes unrealistic. That approach can be amusing when accepted on its own terms, but it also makes the film unconvincing at times.
The Worldview
THE PARTY presents a strong, mixed pagan worldview. Its seven characters have no consistent guiding belief system, and much of the story follows a “whatever goes” approach. Some characters identify as atheists but begin asking about the afterlife when death becomes personal. Another character appears spiritual in a New Age way, mentioning karma and making Christian-sounding statements such as “seek and you will find” and “no one is beyond saving,” without explaining what or who saves.
The film includes feminist elements from a leftist viewpoint, a lesbian relationship, and anti-capitalist implications involving a troubled wealthy banker. It also presents adultery, moral relativism, deception, revenge, and cynicism without a clear moral resolution. A dying character asks whether faith can save him, but the meaning of faith remains undefined; he also seems to believe a curse or voodoo has made him ill.
The film’s central questions about death, faith, and salvation point toward questions Scripture does answer. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Very strong, somewhat mixed pagan worldview throughout as seven characters have no guiding belief system, some overt pro-feminist elements from a leftist viewpoint but one woman attacks one feminist character’s intelligence, some characters are self-declared atheists yet question the afterlife when their lives are suddenly threatened with death, one character seems to be spiritual but in a New Agey way with no defined religion or beliefs and mentions karma and makes Christian-sounding comments like “seek and you will find” and “no one is beyond saving” but doesn’t specify in which manner one can be “saved,” a character who knows he’s dying asks questions like “can faith save me” yet, again, doesn’t define in which manner of faith and seems to believe that a curse or voodoo has sickened him, most characters seem to be governed by a non-systematic belief system where anything really goes, plus two of the seven main characters are in a lesbian relationship and there’s some strong anti-capitalist elements where a wealthy young banker is actually a troubled man who snorts cocaine and has some bad intentions
Foul Language
19 obscenities (nine or 10 “f” words), two to four light profanities, and British expletives such as “bloody” and “wanker,” plus a few characters get sick for different reasons and vomit in the toilet or in the bathtub
Violence
Strong violence includes a few characters interact in small fights with slapping and punching, a moderate amount of blood, one character pulls a gun on another. one character kneels down on broken glass and knee begins to bleed, character bites herself out of anger and frustration, terminally ill character collapses, and man at party secretly has a gun
Sex
Strong sexual content and immorality includes multiple characters are engaged in adultery off screen, two feminist women are “married” and one of them is pregnant with male triplets, and multiple sexual innuendoes and insinuations, but no sex scenes shown
Nudity
No nudity
Alcohol Use
Characters drink champagne, wine and whiskey throughout dinner party and woman drinks while pregnant, but no apparent drunkenness
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
A few characters smoke cigarettes casually and one character does cocaine a few times in restroom
Miscellaneous Immorality
High amount of miscellaneous content includes examples of lying and deception, elements of revenge as information is revealed of secret adulterous, one character is very cynical and verbally mocks other people, other nastiness occurs, multiple examples of moral relativism throughout, and although movie seems to satirize middle-class liberals in England, it appears still to be from a left-wing viewpoint and there’s no apparent redemption in the end.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The characters’ shifting beliefs become more urgent when death enters the conversation. What does Scripture say about seeking God sincerely rather than inventing our own answers?
Jeremiah 29:13 · Hebrews 11:6Much of the conflict revolves around adultery and deception. Why does God treat faithfulness and truthfulness as essential to human relationships?
Exodus 20:14, 16 · Ephesians 4:25The film presents a “whatever goes” approach to morality. How can Christians recognize the difference between personal freedom and wisdom shaped by God’s will?
Romans 12:2 · Galatians 5:13The characters face fear, illness, and questions about salvation. Where does Scripture direct a person who wants to know how to be saved?
Acts 16:30–31 · Ephesians 2:8–9The Final Word
THE PARTY has sharp dialogue and genuine dark-comedy appeal, but its strong content and mixed worldview overwhelm its limited moral value. Because the film offers little or no redemption, our answer is clear: SKIP IT. For more suitable viewing, see.
