Janet, a politician for the opposition party, has just been announced as shadowminister for health and is having a small celebratory party at her house. Invited are her friends April, with her estranged German partner Gottfried, a life coach and self-proclaimed spiritual healer, women's studies professor Martha, with her partner Jinny, a renowned chef, and Janet's colleague and subordinate Marianne with husband Tom, a banker. Before the party begins and after the guests arrive, Janet's husband Bill sits in his chair, listening to music, staring vacantly, and drinking wine. All invited guests come, with the exception of Marianne, who Tom says will arrive later. Tom is extremely nervous and immediately locks himself in the bathroom, where he sniffs some cocaine, examines a gun he has brought with him and encourages himself in the mirror. Throughout the party, Janet is exchanging secret phone calls and messages with an unknown lover. While April, who continually belittles and insults Gottfried, gives a toast to Janet, Martha and Jinny announce that Jinny is pregnant with triplets via in vitro fertilisation. This is immediately followed by Bill announcing that he has just been informed by his doctor that he is terminally ill. Gottfried tells him that modern medicine is not to be believed and that by becoming spiritual, Bill may have a chance of surviving. Bill, a well-known atheist intellectual, seems to waver in his commitment to his beliefs and begins to listen to Gottfried. Janet says that she will resign from her shadow minister position and will take care of Bill, but he announces that he is leaving her for Marianne, a fact that Tom had learned earlier that day. After berating Bill, Tom goes into the backyard, where he throws his gun into the dustbin. While Jinny and Martha are talking about the future and motherhood, Martha patronizes Jinny, who, deeply hurt, tells Martha that she will leave her. Martha then confesses to Jinny that she fears what will happen once the babies are born, and pleads with Jinny to stay with her. When Janet throws the burnt vol-au-vents in the dustbin, she finds the gun Tom had thrown away and takes it with her, locking herself in the bathroom and hiding the gun there. She lets April in and they talk about what happened. She asks April, who has been cynical the whole time, to speak honestly with her. April tells her that she is proud of her accomplishments. Gottfried tries to help and coach Tom and Bill, but their discussion escalates when Bill rambles about the love that Marianne and he share. Tom punches him in the face, knocking him out cold. Gottfried and Tom fear that Tom has killed Bill and they try to seek help from the others. They fetch Janet from the bathroom, just when she was starting to tell April a secret. Janet manages to resuscitate Bill, who looks her in the eyes and asks, "How did it come to this?" At that moment, the doorbell rings, with everybody expecting it to be Marianne. Janet rushes to the bathroom, grabs the gun, runs to open the door, aims the gun at the visitor, who is invisible to the audience, and exclaims, "You told me you loved me. ME! You traitor!" before it cuts to black.
Cast
Kristin Scott Thomas as Janet, an idealistic politician
Timothy Spall as Bill, Janet's husband, a materialist and atheist professor
The Party received positive reviews from film critics. It holds a critical approval rating of 81% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 150 reviews, with an average rating of 6.96/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Old-fashioned charm meets sharp wit and modern social satire in The Party, a biting comedy carried by a shining performance from Patricia Clarkson." On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 72 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described the film as 'observant and smart' in his review.
