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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Lucy Mangan

The Party review – this pacey, perfectly cast thriller is enormous fun

A pregnant woman and her husband get out of a taxi , with baggage
Betrayals major and minor … Lucy (Sarah Solemani) and Martin (Luke Evans) in The Party. Photograph: Rob Youngson/ITV/World Productions

Imagine going to a huge party in a country pile stuffed with posh Tory MPs. Now imagine being massively pregnant and unable to drink. Now imagine that the party is “Victorian freak show” themed, because the hostess thought that would be even more fun. Such is the situation Lucy Gilmour (Sarah Solemani) finds herself in at the beginning of The Party, Solemani’s adaptation of Elizabeth Day’s 2017 bestseller of the same name.

When you learn that a gun has gone off, your first thought may well be that this can only improve matters. At the very least, the circus troupe will probably decline to perform further, and I believe even posh people have to stop conga-ing to 80s hits once the police show up. Like most of us, I’d be tempted to fire the gun into the air myself.

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