A- Best paired with: A glass of red wine, a suspiciously empty apartment next door, and a bullet-wound first-aid kit.
The twist? When Brooks is apparently kidnapped for real, the group of friends—including the delightfully dim Ryan (Billy Magnussen) and the painfully awkward Gary (Jesse Plemons)—must decipher what is part of the game and what is genuine, life-threatening danger. 1. The Direction is the Secret Weapon. Unlike many comedies that are shot flatly to capture improv, Daley and Goldstein (writers of Spider-Man: Homecoming ) treat Game Night like a thriller. The camera glides through long takes, swoops over miniature city models (used in brilliant tilt-shift transitions), and creates genuine tension. There’s a chase sequence involving a raw egg and a flight for life that is choreographed better than most action films from that year. game.night.2018
In the sprawling landscape of 2010s studio comedies, few films have managed to balance genuine laughs, genuine thrills, and genuine heart quite like John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein’s Game Night . A- Best paired with: A glass of red