Suburbicon
{{Short description|2017 film by George Clooney}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| image = Suburbicon.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = George Clooney
| writer = {{Plainlist|
- Joel Coen
Ethan Coen - George Clooney
- Grant Heslov
}}
| producer = {{Plainlist|
- George Clooney
- Grant Heslov
- Teddy Schwarzman
}}
| starring = {{Plainlist|
}}
| cinematography = Robert Elswit
| editing = Stephen Mirrione
| music = Alexandre Desplat
| studio = {{Plainlist|
- Black Bear Pictures{{cite web |title=Suburbicon (2017) - Movie |url=https://www.moviefone.com/movie/suburbicon/PDG4ihyNGDQuw7mLyoAbF5/main/ |website=Moviefone |access-date=15 May 2025}}
- Dark Castle Entertainment
- Smokehouse Pictures
- Huahua Media{{Citation| last=Schwartzel| first=Erin| date=January 19, 2017| title=Paramount Pictures Gets a $1 Billion Infusion from China| work=The Wall Street Journal| location=New York City| url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/paramount-pictures-gets-a-1-billion-infusion-from-china-1484868302| access-date=January 22, 2017| archive-date=January 21, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121234151/http://www.wsj.com/articles/paramount-pictures-gets-a-1-billion-infusion-from-china-1484868302| url-status=live}}
}}
| distributor = Paramount Pictures
| released = {{Film date|2017|9|2|Venice|2017|10|27|United States}}
| runtime = 105 minutes{{cite web|url=http://www.tiff.net/tiff/film.html?v=suburbicon|title=Suburbicon|website=tiff|access-date=August 18, 2017}}
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $25 million{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/news/jigsaw-box-office-opening-preview-1202598482/|title=Box Office: 'Jigsaw' to Piece Together $20 Million Opening|work=Variety|date=October 25, 2017|access-date=October 25, 2017}}
| gross = $12.8 million{{cite web |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Suburbicon#tab=summary |title=Suburbicon (2017) |website=The Numbers|access-date=July 22, 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0491175/|title=Suburbicon (2017)|website=Box Office Mojo|access-date=November 13, 2019}}
}}
Suburbicon is a 2017 American black comedy crime film{{cite news | last=Nugent | first=John | title=Woody Harrelson joins the cast of George Clooney's Suburbicon | url=https://www.empireonline.com/people/george-clooney/woody-harrelson-george-clooney-suburbicon/ | work=Empire | date=May 18, 2016 | access-date=February 16, 2017}} directed by George Clooney and co-written by the Coen brothers, Clooney, and Grant Heslov.[https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/suburbicon-movie-review/ 'Suburbicon' Review: A Rare Miss For Clooney, Damon, and the Coens|Digital Trends] It stars Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Noah Jupe, and Oscar Isaac, and follows a mild-mannered father in 1959 who must face his demons after a home invasion, all while a black family moves into the all-white neighborhood. The black family storyline is loosely based on a 1957 incident in Levittown, Pennsylvania, in which a black family moved into the previously all-white neighborhood, leading to racism and violence against the family.{{Cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/suburbicon-real-life-racial-battle-inspired-george-clooneys-film-1034430|title=The Real-Life Racial Battle That Inspired George Clooney's 'Suburbicon'|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=2018-01-30|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/mc-ent-suburbicon-george-clooney-matt-damon-20171023-story.html|title=George Clooney's 'Suburbicon' tells racially charged story of Bucks County's Levittown|last=Longsdorf|first=Amy|work=The Morning Call|access-date=2018-01-30|language=en-US}}
Principal photography for Suburbicon began in October 2016 in Los Angeles. It premiered in the main competition section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2017,{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/venice-film-festival-unveils-lineup-74th-edition-1024415 |title=Venice Competition Includes Films From George Clooney, Guillermo del Toro, Darren Aronofsky |last=Anderson |first=Ariston |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=July 27, 2017 |access-date=July 27, 2017}} and then was screened at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival before being theatrically released in the United States on October 27, 2017.{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2017/07/toronto-film-festival-2017-margot-robbie-gary-oldman-jake-gyllenhaal-emma-stone-christian-bale-1202135285/ |title=Toronto Film Festival 2017 Unveils Strong Slate |last=Fleming |first=Mike Jr. |website=Deadline |date=July 25, 2017 |access-date=July 25, 2017}} The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box-office bomb, earning $12.8 million against its $25 million budget.{{cite web|url=https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/suburbicon-is-a-stale-satire/|title=Suburbicon is a Stale Satire |first=Jeff|last=Giles|website=Rotten Tomatoes|date=October 26, 2017|access-date=October 29, 2017}}
Plot
In the late spring of 1959, the peaceful, all-white neighborhood of Suburbicon is shaken by the arrival of the African-American Mayers family.
Gardner Lodge, a seemingly mild-mannered family man, lives in Suburbicon with his paraplegic wife, Rose, and their son, Nicky. One night when Rose's identical twin sister, Margaret, is staying over, two robbers, Sloan and Louis, break into his house, tie the whole family up, and knock them out with chloroform. Rose receives an overdose and never regains consciousness. After the funeral, Margaret moves in to help take care of Nicky and soon begins to transform herself into Rose, dyeing her hair blonde and having sex with Gardner.
The Lodges are called to the police station to identify Sloan and Louis, but both Gardner and Margaret say the police have the wrong men, even though Nicky recognizes them as his mother's murderers. Soon after this, Sloan and Louis show up at Gardner's job and demand the money he owes them as payment for killing Rose. When Gardner refuses to pay, they make plans to kill Nicky and Margaret.
With tensions mounting between the residents of Suburbicon and their new African-American neighbors the Mayers, charismatic insurance agent Bud Cooper arrives on the Lodge's doorstep one day when Gardner is not home and begins to question Margaret. He initially says he is simply looking to clear up red flags in a life insurance claim Gardner made on Rose, but eventually admits to Margaret that he suspects her and Gardner of murdering Rose to collect on the policy, at which point Margaret kicks him out of the house.
That night, as the protracted protest at the Mayers' home turns into a riot, Cooper returns to talk with Gardner. He tells Gardner that he knows the nature of his and Margaret's insurance-fraud plan and attempts to blackmail them into giving him their entire payout in exchange for his silence. Margaret poisons his coffee with lye, and Gardner bashes his head in with a fireplace poker to finish him off. Gardner leaves to hide the body, trailed by Sloan.
Margaret attempts to kill Nicky with a poisoned sandwich and milk after she catches him calling his Uncle Mitch for help, but he refuses to leave his room. Louis enters and strangles Margaret to death. He heads upstairs to murder Nicky, but Mitch arrives just in time and shoots Louis dead. Mitch gives Nicky his gun and hides the boy in a closet before succumbing to a stab wound inflicted by Louis.
On the way home from disposing of Cooper's body, Gardner is taunted by Sloan, who is suddenly hit and killed by a fire truck that was speeding to a fire started by the rioters at the Mayers' home. At his own house, he discovers the bodies of Margaret, Mitch, and Louis, and finds Nicky in the closet. Gardner offers Nicky a choice: to go along with his plan to take the insurance money and run away to Aruba, or die, with Gardner claiming his son was yet another of Louis' victims.
The next morning, Gardner is dead, having consumed the poisoned sandwich and milk during his conversation with Nicky. Nicky calmly goes outside to play ball with Andy, the young son of the Mayer family whom he has befriended, while his parents and a few members of the community clean up the mess left in the wake of the riot.
Cast
{{div col}}
- Matt Damon as Gardner Lodge
- Julianne Moore as Rose (Gardner's wife) and Margaret, identical twin sisters
- Noah Jupe as Nicky Lodge, Gardner and Rose's son
- Glenn Fleshler as Ira Sloan, a hitman
- Alex Hassell as Louis, Sloan's partner
- Gary Basaraba as Uncle Mitch, Rose and Margaret's brother
- James Handy as Mayor Billings
- Oscar Isaac as Bud Cooper, an insurance claims investigator
- Jack Conley as Hightower, a police officer investigating Rose's death
- Karimah Westbrook as Mrs. Mayers, wife and mother in the African-American family that moves to Suburbicon
- Tony Espinosa as Andy Mayers, son of the African-American family that moves to Suburbicon
- Leith Burke as Mr. Mayers, husband and father of the African-American family that moves to Suburbicon
- Michael D. Cohen as Stretch, an angry resident of Suburbicon
- Megan Ferguson as June, a resident of Suburbicon
- Richard Kind as John Sears (voice)
{{div col end}}
Production
According to executive producer Joel Silver, Joel and Ethan Coen originally wrote the script for Suburbicon in 1986, soon after the release of their film Blood Simple.{{cite web|author=Radish, Christina|title=Producer Joel Silver on 'The Nice Guys', 'Sherlock Holmes 3′, and Joss Whedon's 'Wonder Woman'|url=https://collider.com/joel-silver-the-nice-guys-wonder-woman-interview/|date=May 20, 2016|website=Collider|access-date=November 4, 2016}} In 2005, it was reported that George Clooney would star in and direct Suburbicon, while the Coen brothers would produce.{{cite news|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/george-clooney-back-coen-brothers/|title=George Clooney Back With Coen Brothers|access-date=October 12, 2016|date=November 22, 2005|work=Empire}} The film was eventually made ten years later, combining two previously unrelated scripts, one the crime film by the Coens, and the other a historical drama by Clooney and Grant Heslov based on the real-life story of the Myers family, the only black family in all-white Levittown, Pennsylvania, who faced racially-charged harassment and violence from other residents.
On December 8, 2015, Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, and Josh Brolin joined the cast;{{cite news|author=Jagernauth, Kevin|title=Matt Damon, Julianne Moore And Josh Brolin To Star In George Clooney's Coens-Penned 'Suburbicon'|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2015/12/matt-damon-julianne-moore-and-josh-brolin-to-star-in-george-clooneys-coens-penned-suburbicon-99993/|date=December 8, 2015|publisher=IndieWire|access-date=October 12, 2016}} Oscar Isaac and Woody Harrelson later signed on, as well.{{cite magazine|author=Slead, Evan|title=Woody Harrelson to star in George Clooney's Suburbicon|url=https://www.ew.com/article/2016/05/17/woody-harrelson-george-clooney-suburbicon|date=May 17, 2016|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=October 12, 2016}} On August 31, 2016, Noah Jupe and Glenn Fleshler (replacing Harrelson) joined, to play Damon's character's son and a hitman, respectively.{{cite news|author=Borys, Kit|title=George Clooney's 'Suburbicon' Adds 'Night Manager,' 'Night Of' Actors (Exclusive)|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/george-clooneys-suburbicon-adds-night-924409|access-date=September 21, 2016|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=August 31, 2016}}
On September 27, 2016, Harrelson said in an interview that he would not be in the film due to scheduling conflicts.{{cite news|last1=Wiseman|first1=Andreas|title=Woody Harrelson on 'LBJ', Trump and Spandex|url=http://www.screendaily.com/features/woody-harrelson-on-lbj-trump-and-superhero-movies/5109803.article?referrer=RSS|date=September 27, 2016|work=Screen Daily|access-date=October 12, 2016}} In August 2017, it was reported that Brolin had been cut from the final edit of the film.{{cite magazine|last1=Collis|first1=Clark|title=Josh Brolin was cut from final version of Suburbicon|url=https://ew.com/movies/2017/08/14/george-clooney-suburbicon-josh-brolin/|date=August 14, 2017|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=August 14, 2017}}
Suburbicon began filming in Fullerton, California, {{convert|30|mi|km}} south of Los Angeles, in October 2016.{{cite news|author=Whitehead, Brian|title=Earlier this month, George Clooney found the quiet family town of Suburbicon in Fullerton|url=http://www.ocregister.com/2016/10/26/earlier-this-month-george-clooney-found-the-quiet-family-town-of-suburbicon-in-fullerton/|access-date=November 8, 2017|work=Orange County Register|date=October 26, 2016}} Alexandre Desplat composed the film's score.{{cite web|url=http://filmmusicreporter.com/2017/03/07/alexandre-desplat-to-score-george-clooneys-suburbicon/|title=Alexandre Desplat to Score George Clooney's 'Suburbicon'|website=FilmMusicReporter|date=March 7, 2017|access-date=March 8, 2017}}
Music
{{Main|Suburbicon (soundtrack){{!}}Suburbicon (soundtrack)}}
Release
Paramount Pictures released the film theatrically in the United States on October 27, 2017.{{cite magazine|last1=Gettell|first1=Oliver|title=George Clooney's Suburbicon sets award season release date|url=https://ew.com/movies/2017/03/27/suburbicon-quiet-place-action-point-terminator-3-release-dates/|date=March 27, 2017|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=March 27, 2017}} Bloom handled distribution sales in international territories.{{cite web|title='Suburbicon': Venice Review|first=Fionnuala|last=Halligan|date=September 2, 2017|access-date=October 16, 2021|url=https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/suburbicon-venice-review/5121919.article}}
=Home media=
Suburbicon was released on Digital HD on January 23, 2018, and on Blu-ray and DVD on February 6, by Paramount Home Entertainment in the United States.{{cite web|title=Suburbicon (2017)|url=https://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/movies/7950/suburbicon|website=DVDs Release Date|access-date=December 29, 2017}}
Reception
=Box office=
Suburbicon grossed $5.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $4.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $10.2 million, against a production budget of $25 million.
In the United States and Canada, Suburbicon was released alongside Thank You for Your Service and Jigsaw, and was projected to gross around $8 million from 2,046 theaters in its opening weekend.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2017/10/jigsaw-boo2-a-madea-halloween-george-clooney-suburbicon-box-office-weekend-preview-1202194368/|title=Jigsaw' Looks To Keep 'Saw' Franchise Sharp During Pre-Halloween Weekend With $20M+ Opening|author=D'Alessandro, Anthony|date=October 25, 2017|access-date=October 25, 2017}} However, after making $1.1 million on its first day, weekend estimates were lowered to $3 million. It ended up debuting to $2.8 million, finishing 9th at the box office. The weekend marked the lowest wide opening for any of Clooney's directorial efforts, and of Matt Damon's career, and the 32nd worst-ever opening for a film playing in over 2,000 theaters.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2017/10/jigsaw-george-clooney-suburbicon-madea-halloween-thank-you-for-your-service-1202196050/|title=Horror Has Few Scares At B.O. As 'Jigsaw' Dulls To $16M+, 'Suburbicon' Condemned With D- CinemaScore|author=D'Alessandro, Anthony|work=Deadline Hollywood|date=October 29, 2017|access-date=October 29, 2017}} Box-office receipts for the film dropped 59% (to $1.2 million) in its second weekend, when it finished 13th at the box office.{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2017/11/thor-ragnarok-a-bad-moms-christmas-huge-box-office-weekend-1202200942/|title='Thor: Ragnarok' Flexes His Box Office Muscles To $120M-$122M Opening – Early Sunday AM Update|author=D'Alessandro, Anthony|work=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=November 5, 2017}}
=Critical response=
On review-aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 27% based on 255 reviews, with an average rating of 4.90/10; the site's critical consensus reads: "A disappointing misfire for director George Clooney, Suburbicon attempts to juggle social satire, racial commentary, and murder mystery -- and ends up making a mess of all three."{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/suburbicon |title=Suburbicon (2017) |publisher=Fandango Media |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=May 21, 2025 }} On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 42 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/suburbicon |title=Suburbicon reviews |publisher=CBS Interactive |website=Metacritic|access-date=December 9, 2017}} Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "D−" on an A+ to F scale.
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Suburbicon is just too obvious in its satirical depiction of the dubious morality and social inequality behind the squeaky-clean façade of postwar American life, though it's watchable enough, and a distinct improvement for Clooney on his last directorial outing."{{cite web |date=September 3, 2017 |author=David Rooney |title='Suburbicon': Film Review {{!}} Venice 2017 {{!}} Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/suburbicon-venice-2017-1034831 |website=The Hollywood Reporter }}
=Accolades=
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{Official website}}
- {{IMDb title|0491175}}
- {{Mojo title|suburbicon}}
- {{Rotten Tomatoes|suburbicon}}
{{George Clooney}}
{{Dark Castle Entertainment}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:2017 black comedy films
Category:2017 crime thriller films
Category:2017 crime comedy films
Category:American crime comedy films
Category:American black comedy films
Category:American comedy thriller films
Category:Black Bear Pictures films
Category:Dark Castle Entertainment films
Category:Films about adultery in the United States
Category:Films about racism in the United States
Category:Films directed by George Clooney
Category:Films produced by George Clooney
Category:Films produced by Grant Heslov
Category:Films produced by Joel Silver
Category:Films scored by Alexandre Desplat
Category:Films shot in Los Angeles
Category:Films with screenplays by George Clooney
Category:Films with screenplays by the Coen brothers
Category:Films with screenplays by Grant Heslov
Category:Paramount Pictures films
Category:Silver Pictures films
Category:Smokehouse Pictures films
Category:Films about siblicide
Category:Films about uxoricide
Category:2010s English-language films
Category:English-language black comedy films