As many of us mature, we feel as though we are taking the necessary steps to become members of the civilized population, leaving behind our infantile impulses. We feel wise and patient, having deserted our youthful penchant for conflict. We’re think we’re adults and we are beyond the immature tactics that our younger selves once employed. But we’re fooling ourselves. All it takes for us to return to our primal lust for Carnage is a simple push. We each have a trigger that, once pulled, strips us of the adult image we’ve tried to present, and reveals the inner child that is still craving for a playground scrap. Carnage (2011), starring Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet, and Christoph Waltz, studies this possibility with its clever pacing, wit, and dialogue.

The film’s concept is based on the 2006 play “God of Carnage”, written by Yasmina Reza, which follows two families who plan to meet in a civilized manner after one child physically harmed the other at a public park. Carnage throws its audience right into the middle of the meeting between the two groups of parents, leaving no time for awkward introductions. From the start, it’s obvious that the exchanged pleasantries are forced and in the interest of an amicable meeting and discussion, but it doesn’t take long before opinions and beliefs start to taint the meaningless small talk.

What Carnage presents is a cast of characters who say what many of us would like to say, but are without the filter that keeps them from doing so. It leads to a catastrophe that, like even the worst of car accidents, we can’t help but watch. The script is what deserves most of the praise. At a lean runtime of 1 hour 20 minutes, the film somehow introduces the story and its cast without rushing, and delivers moments both comedic and relaxed without dragging.

Despite the crazed and sometimes frenetic conflicts, Carnage delivers on the black comedy in happenstances both strong and nuanced. The latter are some of the most skillful doses of ha-ha. The turns that each of the characters take feel motivated, and every word spoken is put to use without feeling contrived. There’s no room for filler here and Carnage tells its story with surgical precision, all while making its commentary known.  Each of the actors elevates the script with their performances of characters that are archetypes of our civilized society.

We’ve met these individuals, or at least someone who reminds us of them, which makes it all the more thrilling when their façade crumbles and they give in to their impulses. No performance stands out in particular because everyone involved contributes in equal measure and tilts the ever-shifting group dynamic. Each of the actors delivers in moments that were tailored for them and can also support the moments of others through subtle gestures and deliveries. In a film that showcases the collapse of our society, of all the pleasantries and polite small talk that guide us through our day-to-day lives, the performances are the true and successful group dynamic.

The end of Carnage is the real punch to the gut that sends its message home. In a film that is filled with moments that seem unlikely to happen until they do, it is the final frames that show just how much these adults have regressed, and how little credit they’ve given to their offspring. Carnage offers a different dose of comedy that requires more attention and depends less on vulgar punch lines and more on hilarious pay-offs that have been meticulously plotted from the film’s earliest moments. Here’s a hidden gem worth the attention and guaranteed to make the philosopher in you roar with laughter.

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