It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say “eat the rich” can be considered a movie sub-genre of its own these days. Be it The Menu, Triangle of Sadness, Knives Out, or the Academy Award-winning Parasite, the topic of class warfare has been all the rage in modern-day movies. Coup! directed by Austin Stark and Joseph Schuman is a worthy addition to the genre which is getting to the point of fatiguing its audience, but movies like this one are bound to breathe some life into it. This Peter Saarsgard starrer has a delicious twist—it’s set in the year 1918, which is more than a century before our time. But thanks to our own experience with a proper pandemic, a story revolving around the infamous Spanish Flu feels relevant enough. The movie even sneaks in a “punishment if you don’t wear a mask” warning, most likely to jostle our memories of how things used to be. The pandemic theme only allows the rich versus poor game to flourish better, narrative-wise. Saarsgard is absolutely fantastic as the protagonist, who’s running the coup to dethrone Billy Magnussen’s de facto antagonist (or it might just be the other way around depending on how you see it). Magnussen is also quite brilliant here, and so is Sarah Gordon, who plays his wife, who predominantly takes Saarsgard’s side in the game, which plays a very important part in the whole thing. Coup’s ending is questionable and might even be unsatisfying for some of you, although I thought it was perfectly adequate. In this article, let us do a much-needed dissection for you!
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens in the Movie?
For Floyd Monk, it doesn’t take much of an effort to take on a new identity. The real Floyd is dead, as we see his body, face down on a table. One might get the idea that the faker has murdered this person in order to borrow their identity, and the movie plays along with that theory until it finally debunks it. The world around Floyd (maybe fake, but I’ve got to call the character something) is a pit of misery, though. The Spanish Flu has entered America, and President Wilson hasn’t been able to do a good job handling it. The working class is suffering the most, while the rich are hiding in their safe hideouts—living considerably better lives.
Far from all this chaos, Jay Horton is living it up inside his family mansion at Edgar Island, along with his wife and two kids—a son and a daughter. But here’s the thing: Jay is a journalist who continues to write articles criticizing the government. From his words, it seems like he’s the voice of the bottom layer of society, who’re affected by the flu the most. He’s directly attacking the president and the upper crust of the society—but from a place where nobody can get to him. It’s evident then that Jay comes from money, and his estate is proof of that. The man is very righteous and moralistic though, and treats his house staff as nicely as possible (by not calling them servants). He also doesn’t eat meat and makes sure there’s no activity related to guns and knives inside his house because he’s sick of all the unnecessary violence. Jay’s wife, Jules, seems more human than him, devoid of all facades, unlike her husband. She’s struggling with her writing career, but seems pretty much unbothered in life.
Coup really kicks in with Floyd making his way to Jay’s estate and subsequently joining as a cook. Jay, Jules, and the kids are initially impressed by this utterly charming man, but the chief of house staff, Mrs. McMurray, is not too happy with this new man. She’s all but certain that something is off about Floyd, but nobody seems to take that seriously enough. However, realizing the old housemaid could turn into a potential threat, Floyd eliminates her by doing a little bit of mushroom poisoning, resulting in Mrs. McMurray going to the city for necessary treatment. With Mrs. McMurray out of the scene, Floyd convinces Jay to let him and the two other members of staff—Mrs. Tidwell, a black woman, and Kaam, a man in his late forties (most likely)—move into the mansion, citing the staff quarters not being safe for them, hygiene-wise, after what happened to Mrs. McMurray.
Why Does Jay Get Doubtful About Floyd?
Jay is, after all, an armchair revolutionary. He writes in the manner that he’s actually participating in the protest, in the flesh. His wife is not at all fond of this deception, but Jay is a hypocritical idiot to believe in his “goodness.” It’s only natural for someone like him to feel threatened by a man like Floyd, who comes from that section of society Jay pretends to fight for and is smart enough to not be fooled by Jay’s parlor tricks. In fact, Jay doesn’t hide his intentions—he does confess to his colleague that he wants to get more. He’s not scared to jump into the pool inside the house, something that’s supposed to be only reserved for Jay. Floyd keeps challenging the house rules, which don’t allow the staff to drink on the premises. It helps that Jules indulges him further. She’s instantly attracted to him, which is justifiable considering her husband is ultimately a pompous oaf who’s not even interested in keeping the bed warm. Cooped up inside the house, Jules is bored and feels undesired, even though she does her best to live through the days. Floyd comes as a breath of fresh air in her life, so it’s only natural for Jules to start hanging out with him, as well as Mrs. Tidwell and Kaan as well. There’s a scene where Jules lets all the staff know that she actually comes from humble origins, despite her ladylike appearance.
All this said, Jay’s suspicion of Floyd has absolutely nothing to do with his wife getting attracted to the man. In fact, I would say he’s oblivious to that whole scenario. But Floyd slowly integrating himself into the household and effectively undermining Jay’s authority is what’s making him mad. In the midst of this, Jay is trying to win the approval of Upton Sinclair, an influential journalist (Succession’s Fisher Stevens) who will back him in a governor campaign in the future. From their telephonic conversation, we realize that Sinclair is under the impression that Jay is staying in the city in a time like this, risking his life for the people. However, the spell eventually wears off, and an article comes out about Jay’s shameful act as a journalist. It also leads to him losing his prestigious job and then going completely cuckoo!
What is the significance of Jay Ending Up in Staff Quarters?
While the primary focus of Coup is on social hierarchy, the story being set during a pandemic enhances certain aspects of it. As things keep getting worse, the island also gets affected. The supply of food falters as the market and grocery stores close down. That’s not much of a problem for the locals though, as they happily take to hunting to get food on the table. A few of them also get inside the estate and rob all the stored vegetables, while Jay fails to stop them. At a time like this, he foolishly expects people to show chivalry. When Floyd suggests they should also go hunting because there’s literally no food and all they’ve managed to collect from the “good neighbors” is a bag of rice, Jay refuses. Seeing her children starving, Jules keeps getting frustrated at her husband. However, Floyd takes the matter into his own hands and hunts a deer to put food on the table. But to Jay’s surprise, he gives the credit to the journalist. That doesn’t stop Jay from taking things further and pulling antics like exposing himself in front of everyone and ransacking Floyd’s room to find some dirt on him. Well, he does find the torn passport of the real Floyd Monk, but (since our Floyd looks a lot like him), Jules refuses to believe him.
In what I consider an inevitable turn of events, Jay eventually ends up in the staff quarters. Thanks to not eating protein, he’s too weak to even stand and probably has the flu as well; at least Jules doesn’t want to risk the hygiene of the house. A major reveal drops at this point when Floyd finally admits to Jay that he’s, in fact, not the real Floyd Monk, but he didn’t kill the man either. The real Floyd was his partner, another working-class cook who killed himself after losing his job due to the pandemic. Our Floyd holds the top layer of society (to which Jay belongs) responsible for that, and he’s here to teach them a lesson only. He also reminds Jay that he didn’t actively do anything to him; Jay himself is responsible for his current situation.
Does Floyd’s death serve any purpose?
Coming to the ending now, this is always a tricky part in this genre, and it’s not always possible to give the audience what they want. The line is pretty blurry here though, as I don’t think a person like Jay (I’m sure there are many) would watch the movie and want Floyd to win, just saying! Floyd triumphing over Jay ultimately wouldn’t make much sense either, especially considering the fact that the year is 1918 in this story. Although, by the end of Coup, Floyd has achieved pretty much everything he wanted. Not only has he turned the tables on Jay by exchanging places with him, he has also made his way into Jules’ heart (and bed). The latter is only for a fleeting moment though, as the local sheriff comes in the middle of the night to let Jules know that things are coming back to normal again. Jay finally regains his strength, only after devouring the piece of steak Floyd left for him on the floor. Then he goes to do exactly what’s expected of him: pick up the gun and shoot Floyd in cold blood. Not that Floyd appears surprised at Jay’s action; by the look of his face in his final moments, it does seem like he saw what was coming.
The bigger question here is, does this death mean anything? The answer would be both yes and no. If we look at the whole thing by taking Floyd as an individual, then we should conclude that he got everything he dreamt of. And I don’t believe Floyd had any plan to continue what he was doing for eternity, especially considering he is, after all, a hedonist (the man doesn’t say it by himself, but he doesn’t deny it when Jules uses the term). However, if we look at the bigger picture, then the coup doesn’t have much of an impact on Jay’s life, or even Jules’. Getting to kill Floyd, Jay changes his fortune by turning himself into a hero who saved his family from the vicious murderer (police were already looking for Floyd). Mrs. Tidwell and Kaan leaves and Mrs. McMurray returns. Even though Jules finds out that the man who was at their house was not a killer after all, nothing particularly changes. She does confront her husband, but Jay gets away just by saying that everything is back to normal already. That certainly means Jules should not talk about this matter anymore. One might wonder why Jules just decides to shut up (following her husband’s wishes), but it only makes sense for her, considering she’s not going to gain anything by pushing further. Jules is okay with getting her “normalcy” back, and she doesn’t expect much from her husband. Both Jay and Jules’ lives don’t change, due to the fact that they still belong to that tier of society that exploits people. One man’s revolution can’t change much, other than giving society a tiny bit of a jolt. That’s what Coup is all about. If you were expecting Floyd to take over Jay’s life (like what happened in the Spanish thriller The Occupant), then it’s your fault only; no offense.
