Ike Barinholtz (“The Mindy Project”) blends dysfunctional family comedy with timely political satire in “The Oath,” which he wrote, directed and produced. He leads a cast that includes Tiffany Haddish, Carrie Brownstein, Nora Dunn, John Cho, Jay Duplass and Max Greenfield.
The story revolves around a loyalty oath that the President asks all Americans to sign voluntarily, but it soon becomes clear that non-compliance will have dire consequences.
An already tense Thanksgiving gathering escalates into an ideological war, then takes an absurd and scary turn when government agents show up to question Barinholtz’s Chris, the one holdout in his family.
“Chris talks a big game, but when he’s faced with a threat, he doesn’t know how to handle it,” Barinholtz said at a Q&A session after an L.A. Times-sponsored screening of the film. He got the idea for the story from a Thanksgiving argument in his own family, “And we all voted for Hilary Clinton,” he said. It made him think how much worse it might be in a politically divided family.
While Barinholtz stays “true to myself and my side of the aisle” in portraying Chris, the film skewers both conservatives and liberals. “I don’t think you can satirize properly unless you shine a light on everything,” he said.
Barinholtz saved time and money by shooting “The Oath” in one location in Chatsworth, and even cooked the food for the dinner scene.
Given the contentious current political climate, “there’s a lot of catharsis” for the audience, he said.
“The Oath” opens in theaters Oct. 12.
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