America has become divided politically, so in an attempt to try to unite everyone, the government has announced that it wants all citizens to sign a governmental loyalty waiver called the Patriot’s Oath. By signing, each citizen pledges his or her loyalty to the president and the U.S. government. The deadline for signing is on Black Friday, 10 months from now. Those in charge state that there will be no penalties for those who don’t sign, just tax benefits and other positive things for those who do. However, Chris (Ike Barinholtz) doesn’t trust the government, and doesn’t want his daughter to grow up in a world like this. He and his wife, Kai (Tiffany Haddish), are very active in anti-Oath protests and movements.

As the deadline to sign approaches, tensions have reached an all-time high as Chris has become increasingly paranoid about the state of the nation. He is convinced that poll results stating that 70% percent of the nation has signed the oath are fake news, and that the reports are fabricated that people’s rights to sign the oath are being impeded. He is also sure that the CPU (Citizen’s Protection Unit), a division of Homeland Security, is arresting opposition leaders, and detaining those who refuse to sign. Adding to his stress is that fact that it is nearly Thanksgiving, and his family is coming to stay for the weekend. His parents (Nora Dunn, Chris Ellis) have asked Chris to not bring up politics, but he can’t help himself. His wife tries to calm him down, but he is horrified to learn that the family members staying with him—his brother Pat (Jon Barinholtz) and his conservative girlfriend Abbie (Meredith Hagner), and his sister Alice (Carrie Brownstein) and her husband Clark (Jay Duplass)——have all signed the oath. Chris can’t stop himself from expressing his disappointment, disgust, and anger. And just when tensions reach an all time high, the family gets a visit from CPU agents Mason (Billy Magnussen) and Peter (John Cho), and the situation goes from bad to exponentially worse.

This film had so much potential, with an amazingly talented comedic cast. However there really isn’t much humor in the entire first hour of the film. I’m not sure if the audience is supposed to side with Chris, but he comes off as a paranoid crazy person. People like him are the reason why I primarily avoid Twitter and other social media these days. He is all doom and gloom, obsessed with the news, and constantly finding things to be offended about. For example, when his brother’s girlfriend tells a story about how she was in a car accident with someone named Lydia Wong, he immediately jumps on her for being racist and implying that all Asians are bad drivers. Watching the first hour of this film, I was reminded of how stressed out I get every time I hop on Twitter. Chris is this Social Justice Warrior trying to save the world from imaginary problems. Everyone else in his family, including his wife, Kai, are much more level-headed. And speaking of Kai, it’s amazing how serious Tiffany Haddish’s character is throughout most of this film. Here is a wonderful comedic actress who can be hilarious when her characters are allowed to go wild, but in this film she is plays the straight man to Barinholtz’s loony character most of the time.

The film finally hits its comedic stride in the final act of the film when the story becomes more of a home invasion/hostage dark comedy. I wish this had been the focus of the film as there was a lot of great humor and laugh-out-loud moments. In some ways, this portion reminded me of The Ref. Screenwriter/director/star Ike Barinholtz seemed to get bogged down with trying to make some sort of a political statement and explore his thinly-veiled hatred of Trump, that he forgot that he was making a comedy, until the final act. The film becomes far more enjoyable once the politics take a back seat, and fun ridiculousness takes over. Had this been the focus of the film, this movie would probably have been an easy recommendation.

Lionsgate has only released this title on DVD, and it doesn’t include a digital copy, so if you want to see it in HD, you will need to purchase the digital version. However, the good news is that the DVD presentation is pretty solid, with a clear, bright picture that is missing the overall sharpness of a Blu-ray. The audio track provides clear dialogue and makes decent use of the stereo and surround channels to add to the ambiance and on-screen action. The DVD includes a small assortment of bonus material, including three extended scenes, two short promotional featurettes with writer/director/star Ike Barinholtz, an image gallery, and three theatrical trailers. The DVD comes packed in a standard DVD keepcase without a slipcover.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:333:21)

DVD:

• 480i / Anamorphic Widescreen 2.39:1
• Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
• Closed Captioned

Extras:

• Deleted Scenes (11:28)
  Three extended scenes play back to back. In the first, Chris complains about invalid poll results, worries about what will happen if they don’t sign the oath, and has some intimate time with his wife. In the second, Chris argues with his family about fake news and accuses his brother of being a fascist. In the third scene, Chris says goodbye to his family members, apologizing for the events that transpired
• Fake News or Facts (1:57)
  In this promotional feature for the theatrical release of the film, Ike Barinholtz (“Chris”) lists off various news stories, asking if they are real or fake.
• Turkey Day Trauma (1:56)
  In this promotional feature for the theatrical release of the film, Ike Barinholtz gives tips on how to survive Thanksgiving dinner with the family.
• The Oath Image Gallery (2:01)
  Automated slideshow of production photos set to a tense score.
• Theatrical Trailers (5:04)
  Three trailers play back-to-back.
• Also From Lionsgate (8:10)
  Trailers for “Beatriz at Dinner”, “Juliet, Naked”, “Uncle Drew”, and “Ben is Back”.

Final Thoughts:

Given its amazing cast I had high hopes for this film, but ended up quite disappointed. It’s unclear if the viewer is supposed to be rooting for the main character, Chris. He is so unlikable and paranoid, and his actions transported me to the stress and annoyance of trying to navigate Twitter or other social media in today’s political climate. The film gets too bogged down in trying to make some sort of political statement, and forgets to be funny until the final act of the film. I hardly ever give a recommendation of skipping a release, but unfortunately, that’s what this one deserves. The final act was enjoyable, but the first hour is painful to sit through, unless navigating political arguments on Twitter is your idea of a good time.