I would love not to care who was President. Love it. I would love to return to a country in which we imagined huge differences between the politics of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. I would like nothing more than to never consider politics again. I want to write about philosophy not phallocracy. Alas, I cannot ignore a current system in which science, fact, and common sense itself are suddenly political positions. The current President and his minions, toadies, sycophants, bootlicks, and troglodytes are opposed to all of them. This is a wild departure from even the days of Richard Nixon. Our art reflects our time and our time is entirely about the endless hate of the right wing.
And so I start this review with a pointed metaphor that won’t seem apt, but is: my fellow Trumpian Americans, look, I understand the national vehicle we are all driving
together isn’t quite what you were hoping for –yeah, it’s a little beat up … it wasn’t getting good mileage and it’s probably an import. I understand your disappointment, but you handed the keys over to a spastic unlicensed child. And instead of monitoring his driving, you shotgun-riding pro-Trump jerks are all completely turned around to taunt the rest of us in the back of the car. While we yelled than Cap’n Orange has blissfully run over pedestrians, all you did was ignore the recklessness and focus on how much better it is to be in the front seat of a car driving off a cliff. One day, some of you just might wake up, view what’s left of the country you helped destroy, and suddenly discover that schadenfreude is not a system of government. Most of you, sadly, never will.
Straight out of Totalitarianism 101, the United States of the near future will require The Oath, a pledge of loyalty to the country and, presumably, the present regime. This is the most poignant part of the movie as it describes a very possible dystopian future. You can call me paranoid all you want, but if you think this necessary half-step between our current “democracy” and fascism is above our popularity-obsessed, enemies-obsessed, wannabe dictator, you haven’t been paying attention. The only thing that’s missing is the propaganda following implementation where the non-fascist free people of the United States are called traitors and enemies for not signing. Proposed at Christmas time, the “fictional” regime in question has given every American until Black Friday the following year to sign.
Writer/director Ike Barinholtz is the focal point. Chris (Barinholtz) is a middle American man with a wife (Tiffany Haddish) and a daughter, and like many other Americans, he absolutely refuses to sign The Oath. Unfortunately, he’s not related to any of those folks which means that hosting Thanksgiving is going to be an ugly affair. This part of the film works, where Barinholtz is clearly commenting on how awful many family gatherings have become in the era of Trump. Y’all can pretend the animosity among family members on different sides of the political spectrum is as old as time, and it is. And I’m quite sure that the mere presence of President Obama has spurred more than one in-family fight, but nobody has alienated quite like The Donald. And certainly no President has triggered with such glee; the commander-in-chief is supposed to represent everybody, not just the people who voted for him. Trump is the first President in US history that has made no bones about the fact that he cares only for his people. That is triggering behavior; nothing before it comes close.
Meanwhile, an Oath enforcement group, the Citizen’s Protection Unit (CPU) has been created with amorphous-yet-aggressive authority to make sure there’s mandatory loyalty throughout the country. So you get what’s happening – here’s Chris and Kai (Haddish) inviting relatives to stay for Thanksgiving including dad who signed The Oath because The Greatest Generation has no concept of the dangers in ultra-nationalism – despite having fought against them — and Chris’ brother and Nazi girlfriend who signed The Oath because they get all their news from Info Wars or Fox or some other fool propaganda thing. Meanwhile, Chris himself vows to play nice, but he can’t tear himself away from his own news sources which show protesters clashing with police in several US cities.
None of the positions are perfect, which is an issue. The Oath is a tool of fascism and should be seen as such. In being the sole representative of the liberal fight, however, Chris comes across as unstable and easily baited. It is his family members happily representing authoritarian positions who come across as relatively even-handed. Yeah, that just doesn’t sit right. Anybody so easily triggered by, say, a kneeling football player shouldn’t get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to temperament. Frankly, if you can spend 90 minutes describing anybody who has bought into Trump crazy without using the words “sucker” or “gullible,” you’re doing us all a disservice. I understand Barinhotlz’ desire not to slant, hence making his own character imperfect, but when the CPUs arrive, what you’re left with is the one guy in the room who cares about the 
Bill of Rights as the guy most easily unhinged for comic purposes. When the inevitable conflict arises, it takes on personal and legal ramifications, not political ones, which is kind of a cheat.
The Oath raises better questions than it answers. The film was prepared to go a dark route, and it was prepared to make political commentary to do so, but it was distinctly not prepared to slam any philosophy or group in the process. The voices of the Right come off as sheltered and dismissive but not entirely unreasonable – which is not a fair reflection on our current state (don’t believe me? Ask any Trump voter what compromise means to them)—the voices of authoritarianism also reflect a mixed bag. Whatsamattah, Ike? Got cold feet during your Cold War? Like I said in Dear White People … you’re allowed to hit harder than this. Our country is in crisis – all three branches of government are held by a minority, a minority that has no interest in the needs of anybody but rich white men. I liked the set-up here, but there were significant lapses in the follow-through.
It’s an America I hope not to see soon
Where fascism roars like a typhoon
A dictator’s whim
Begins with a grim
“I pledge allegiance to the buffoon”
Rated R, 93 Minutes
Director: Ike Barinholtz
Writer: Ike Barinholtz
Genre: Our immediately screwed future
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Political history junkies
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Those who have no interest in the direction this country is headed
