3052. The Last Supper (1995)

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Ron Aldard, Annabeth Gish

Director: Stacy Title

Running Time: 92 mins

The Last Supper is an American film about a group of liberal grad students who invite people with extreme conservative views to dinner, so that they can murder them.

As timely and relevant as ever, The Last Supper’s biting political satire and commentary is absolutely brilliant, and a worthy watch for supporters of all ideologies. However, beyond its political content, the film really impresses with a complex and thought-provoking exploration of morality which, along with a captivating sense of dark humour, makes The Last Supper a devilishly entertaining film from start to finish.

With political tensions between the ‘liberal left’ and ‘conservative right’ running as high as ever, it’s more than likely you’ll have a clear viewpoint on the political issues brought up in this film. However, the brilliance of The Last Supper is that, rather than trying to preach or convince you on the right and the wrong of political issues, it looks at the right and wrong of debate and discussion, and how tensions between people entrench themselves over the years.

In that vein, the film offers up a thought-provoking and darkly entertaining look at when supposedly moralistic ‘liberals’ go too far in their pursuit of what they see as an objective ‘good’, in this case brutally murdering right-wingers to the point where the end goal of silencing them is more important than actually discussing with them.

And it’s that part of the film that’s both most relevant and most insightful on the reality of political debate and discussion in the modern day. Taking an impressively balanced perspective on who’s in the right and who’s in the wrong in political debate, The Last Supper’s moral compass is absolutely spot on throughout, and brilliantly shows you the potential errors of political crusading and silencing the opposition.

Of course, this story is an exaggeration of reality, and it in no way insinuates that liberals are the equivalent of murderers, or that conservatives should be murdered. It achieves that through its use of comedy, which is not only hugely funny throughout, but plays a big role in lightening the atmosphere to the point where the film is able to start tackling slightly more prickly issues.

If this were a pure drama, it’s likely that the introspective nature of its story on the errors of individuals in political debate would hit a little too close to home. However, by using dark humour and exaggerated storytelling, the film is able to tap into those slightly more uncomfortable topics better.

So, as far as its political content goes, The Last Supper certainly hits home hard, and whichever side of the political spectrum you sit on, this film will definitely make you think hard about the way that you engage in political debate.

It’s a genius moral exploration that’s far richer in depth than the vast majority of Hollywood comedies, and along with the film’s fantastic laughs and performances, The Last Supper is an enormously entertaining and immensely thought-provoking watch, which is why I’m giving it an 8.0.