Not feeling stressed enough about politics these days? Ike Barinholtz’s “The Oath” is here to remedy that. The comedic actor makes his directorial debut with a politically charged comedy that’s sort of a satire, designed to wring wry laughs out of our deeply divided political state. But in this climate, it’s just frustrating and unpleasant to watch.
The premise plays on the well-known notion that discussing politics with family at Thanksgiving is fraught and awkward, with a twist. The government has required every citizen sign a “loyalty oath” pledging their patriotism, with a deadline of Black Friday. Barinholtz plays the uber-liberal Chris, married to Kai (Tiffany Haddish), and he steadfastly refuses to sign in protest.
Things come to a head when his family descends on their home for Thanksgiving. His clueless parents (Nora Dunn and Chris Ellis) aren’t a problem, but his brother, Pat (Jon Barinholtz), and his conservative girlfriend, Abbie (Meredith Hagner), are the burr in Chris’ side, despite Kai’s attempts to keep things copacetic. Their sister, Alice (Carrie Brownstein), and her family also attempt to keep the peace.
For the majority of the film, it’s just about the small annoyances of sharing space with people who you have to spend time with even if you’d rather not, and the small spats that erupt over negligible issues — all heightened by the “did you/didn’t you” questions about who might have signed the oath. But the film enters horror movie territory when two government agents (John Cho and Billy Magnussen) show up to question Chris about a report that he’s been pressuring someone not to sign.