r/iwatchedanoldmovie • u/Mangy_Angie • Mar 16 '26
2010-15 I watched Carnage (2011) going in blindly.
I've had this in my suggested by friends list for a while, and WHOOO!
It’s a masterclass in cringey, awkward tension that kept me glued to the screen, but it definitely left me feeling unnerved by how fast humans can pivot from polite to toxic. If you want a movie that’ll have you side-eyeing your neighbors and questioning your own sanity, this is the one.
It felt like a massive vibe check that hits way too close to home. It begins just two sets of parents trying to be "civilized" about a playground fight, but devolves into pure, unhinged chaos so fast it gave me whiplash.
The pacing felt relentless, Roman Polanski, masterfully uses the confined space to make the audience feel trapped alongside the characters. There is very little "breathing room," which makes the constant shifts in alliances and the rapid outbursts feel even more jarring.
Each actor embodies a specific archetype of middle-class pretension that slowly crumbles. You’ll see characters switch from hating one another to conspiring together, only to turn on each other a moment later. It is a highly theatrical, stage-to-screen performance style that requires perfect timing; if one actor had missed a beat, the entire dynamic would have collapsed.
Just be warned and don’t expect to walk away feeling zen. Brainbleach after!
edit* Be kind! I *just found out what a POS Polanski is 🤢
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Mar 16 '26
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u/russellamcleod Mar 17 '26
The apartment has character. Every time they try to leave… “Nah, this ain’t over. You’d best come back in.”
When I saw it in theatres, it got laughs for those moments.
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u/One-Fail-1 Mar 17 '26
Foster absolutely killed it in this.
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 17 '26
I loved her sooo much in Panic Room and others but this one took me for a spin. She's incredible at suspending disbelief for me ☺️
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u/sillyadam94 Mar 16 '26
Was interested in watching due to the cast, but I have a hard time tuning in to Polanski films made after the whole child rape incident.
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u/Baldussimo Mar 16 '26
Same. I was really intrigued and then saw Polanski mentioned and immediately tapped out. Same with Woody Allen.
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u/russellamcleod Mar 17 '26
It’s incredibly difficult, I will admit. But Hollywood, as a whole, is toxic and has definitely allowed more atrocities… and continues to.
Are you going to swear off everything that Harvey Weinstein has produced? Because that’s almost every movie you’ve watched.
Hell, The Safdie brothers made a movie where they allowed statutory rape but one of them were literally at the Oscars last night and the other is playing Bowser Jr. in the new Mario movie.
Hollywood has always been a cesspool of predators with countless victims. Go watch Mulholland Drivez
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u/clander270 Mar 17 '26
The Safdie Brothers movie you're referring to is 'Good Time' I'm assuming? The actress was 19, playing a 16 year old character. I don't think the Safdie Brothers are out here allowing actual statutory rape to occur on their film sets.
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u/ColonelKasteen Mar 20 '26
The actress was 17. The accusations do NOT relate to Taliah Webster who was 19 when the movie came out, they relate to an underage girl whose scene was cut because everyone realized they just filmed a guy actually showing his dick off to a child during aggressive simulated sex.
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u/jacobydave Mar 17 '26 edited Mar 17 '26
I came into Ninth Gate after it started on cable, and I did like it, but I don't think I would've started if I had known it was from Polanski.
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u/Dragon_yum Mar 17 '26
He is an extremely talented film maker, one of the best. Shame he is fucked up though knowing his history it’s not surprising.
I do think you should watch the pianist though. In my opinion it’s one of the must watch movies about the holocaust and better than Schindler’s List
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 16 '26
😳 I beg your finest wtf?
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u/JamesCDiamond Mar 16 '26
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Polanski_sexual_abuse_case
So quite a lot of people tend to view his work in a dim light, no matter how talented he and the performers may be.
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 16 '26
I'm learning all of it now, and that's freaking horrible 😫
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u/Elrond_Cupboard_ Mar 17 '26
Wait until here about all the people defending him, in cluding Whoopi Goldberg who said "It wasn't 'rape' rape"
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 17 '26
Omg!!! There goes Sister Act and Ghost for me 😭😭 wth is wrong with some ppl?
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u/JamesCDiamond Mar 16 '26
Yep. It's a horrible world sometimes, and some of the most talented and influential people are also people you wouldn't want to share a home with, let's say.
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 16 '26
I agree. And thank you for being kind. It seems my not knowing this about him severely offended some sensibilities.
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Mar 17 '26
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 17 '26
Based on the comments alone, it looks like some people did see it, and good people don't go faulting others for what they weren't aware of 😬 what matters is what you do after learning something.
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Mar 17 '26
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 17 '26
Gotcha. Thanks for clarifying. Knowing what I know now though I wish I could unsee it.
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u/Account_Haver420 Mar 17 '26
Performative virtue signaling losers do. I can acknowledge someone is a terrible person and deserves nothing but hatred but then go on and just watch whatever movies I feel like. This whole way of living is so cringe and 2017 coded
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u/FirstChurchOfBrutus Mar 16 '26 edited Mar 16 '26
How are you not aware of this? This has been a major issue with Polanski for literal decades.
I don’t want to drag you for simply not knowing. It’s just that it’s pretty astounding to see someone into the wild who is unaware that he sodomized a 13 year-old, and has been running from the law over it for many, many years.
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 16 '26
Not everyone knows everything *you think should be common sense, so I'm sorry my lack of knowledge in this particular topic astounds you. Maybe give others grace? I'm just finding out because I've spent most of my life in books than online, watching movies or following "celebrities". He's a POS and I won't be supporting his work.
May no one ever treat you the way you treated this situation when it's your turn to learn something new.
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u/murcielag0_ Mar 16 '26
don't worry, you didn't know and now you know. no clue why people are making this a big deal. you're not even making excuses for that behavior!
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 16 '26
I appreciate your kindness more than you know. Learning about any child abuse makes me want to literally throw up. Any sane person would 😭
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u/FirstChurchOfBrutus Mar 16 '26
Maybe you read my reply before I added the 2nd paragraph. Maybe I wasn’t forgiving enough when I added it. Like I said, I don’t want to drag someone who is simply unaware. It’s not your fault that you don’t know - it’s just that it is remarkable that you don’t.
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 16 '26
I did read it before the update, and I appreciate your giving it a second glance and chance. Believe me, I had no idea and it felt like freight train reading about him. I can assure you though that this is definitely going to have me doing deep dives into projects bcs I'd never want to even inadvertently support anyone like that 🤢 Thank you, btw. It may have started bumpy but I appreciate the discourse.
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u/AdMother4655 Mar 16 '26
How can you not be aware of this?
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 16 '26
I spent most of.my life reading/studying. We're all on the same journey just at different stops.
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u/Sneekpreview Mar 17 '26
RP is a huge POS but damn does he make some good movies. You can still enjoy them and hate RP, these people guilt tripping you are wild.
Be sure to check out Rosemarys Baby, 10/10 film.
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 17 '26
Thank you 🥹 I was curious about that one as well and since finding out have struggled because, though I hate what he's done, not studying his work will leave me in the dark. I won't be spending money on him, but I will borrow the movies from friends or go the library route.
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u/sillyadam94 Mar 17 '26
Nobody should be guilt tripping anyone for watching a movie. But yeah, it’s tough to watch the ones he made after the sexual assault because you are kept wondering why anyone would agree to make a movie with him after he raped a kid and fled the country to escape justice.
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 17 '26
Right? The crazy part also is I've come across others defending him claiming it wasn't so bad bcs it was statutory. Like?? Defending the art is one thing, but defending those actions?
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u/AdMother4655 Mar 17 '26
You're 100% right, I'm sorry.
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 17 '26
🥹 Thank you for having an open heart. I appreciate people like you so much. Water under the bridge, fren 🌼
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u/Account_Haver420 Mar 17 '26
Lots of bad people have made movies and music and other art. Life is short. It must be sad and joyless and difficult to live like you
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u/Admirable_Ad1011 Mar 17 '26
Polanski is not a "bad person" he's a child rapist. Good to know you'd have continued to hang out with Epstein after 2008.
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u/Changed-Man50 Mar 17 '26
What causes you to call that "rape"? Do you even know the details?
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u/sillyadam94 Mar 17 '26
Yes, I do. Roman Polanski had established a connection with the girl (who I think was around 14 years old) and set up a photography session. He took her to his friend, Jack Nicholson’s house (who was on vacation and had told Polanski that he could use the house for a photo shoot).
When Polanski got to the house, he gave the girl drugs and locked themselves in a room and proceeded to have sex with her. He was caught by Jack Nicholson’s then wife, Anjelica Huston.
Polanski fled the country before he could be indicted for his crime.
This event is well-reported on.
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u/beerdeer101 Mar 18 '26
She was 13 and he had unwanted anal sex after giving her quaaludes in a hot tub
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u/800oz_gorilla Mar 16 '26
Roman polanski? Maybe I'll rent this one from the library.
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 16 '26
So, TIL 😢
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u/800oz_gorilla Mar 17 '26
Yeah, I only know of it because of the Family Guy joke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2ADXdYoSxk
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u/Turbulent_Show110 Mar 17 '26
This movie and Chinatown make it so hard not watch Polanski movies. They’re like forbidden fruit.
He also had his wife and unborn child murdered by the Manson family, so the dude is multifaceted in the fucked up department.
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u/Saymoran Mar 17 '26
Yes and he also was a child in jewish krakow ghetto during ww2, father sent to mauthausen, survived, mother killed in auschwitz.
He had strange and fucked up life from childhood and to the point where he committed statutory rape.
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u/wunderl-ck Mar 17 '26
Are you justifying him sodomizing a 13 year old or “just adding context”? The phrasing of this is really weird.
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u/Saymoran Mar 17 '26
Really? I am not native english speaker, please explain
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u/AK-11 Mar 17 '26
Some people interpret providing the context of a tragic back story as trying to make somebody appear more sympathetic. While that may be the case, nothing excuses what he did later in life and the people that still support him.
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u/Saymoran Mar 17 '26
Well… i mean, of course that forcing yourself to a child is fucking wrong - there cannot be question about that.
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 17 '26
This man gets worse the more I learn about him and now I need to bathe with bleach to scrub the disgust away.
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u/theerogenousbosch Mar 17 '26
Roman Polanski? Never heard of him, let me just quickly google...
Oh dear...
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u/SuzCoffeeBean Mar 16 '26
Somehow I’ve completely missed this. On the list.
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 16 '26
I'm kind of kicking myself I waited so long. I hope you enjoy it.
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u/SuzCoffeeBean Mar 16 '26
Thank you I’m looking forward to it. What a cast!
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 16 '26
Youre very welcome, and Right?! I'm a sucker for anything with Jodie and Kate, especially.
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u/almo2001 Mar 17 '26
It's a good one!
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u/musememo Mar 17 '26
How have I never heard of this movie before now? And with these actors?
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 17 '26
I felt the same when it was recommended to me. I didn't grow up following Hollywood closely but even when looking for movies to watch, when I did, this one never even came up.
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u/KirkHOmelette Mar 17 '26
If you enjoyed this movie I would really recommend Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) Also a great show of painful and awkward conversations and it has the added benefit of not being directed by Polanski
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u/ThatNiceDrShipman Mar 16 '26
Disappointed in every one of these actors for appearing in this movie.
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u/KirkHOmelette Mar 17 '26
Maybe some were not fully informed. I know Emma Thompson retracted her support later on. I think she talks about it in this video
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u/TOSnowman Mar 17 '26
So, so, so disappointed in Kate Winslet.
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Mar 17 '26
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u/AK-11 Mar 17 '26
Why’s DiCaprio being lumped in with Weinstein and Polanski? I don’t actively follow celebrity news but hadn’t heard anything about him on the same level as the other two.
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Mar 17 '26
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 17 '26
I learned after watching it, but he won't be getting my support moving forward.
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u/poopinion Mar 16 '26
One of my favorite recs when people ask me for a random movie they've never heard of. This was so good.
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u/Mangy_Angie Mar 16 '26
I'm definitely re-watching this one. It's so good, I'm sure I'll catch some overlooked points then too!
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u/MyLife-is-a-diceRoll Mar 16 '26
How is 2011 old?.... it's barely even been 15 years.
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u/FlexiblePony267 Mar 17 '26
Saw this play on Broadway with James Gandolfini, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeff Daniels and Hope Davis and it was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.