# Carnage (2011 film)
**Carnage** is a 2011 comedy-drama film directed by [Roman Polanski](https://www.edgepedia.org/roman-polanski), adapted from the play *God of Carnage* by the French playwright Yasmina Reza, who co-wrote the screenplay with Polanski. Set in contemporary Brooklyn, it places four parents in one apartment for a meeting meant to settle a playground fight between their 11-year-old sons, and follows the discussion as it collapses into verbal warfare.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/carnage) • [2](https://www.sonyclassics.com/downloads/Carnage-Release.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Roman Polanski; screenplay by Yasmina Reza and Polanski, based on Reza's play *God of Carnage*[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/carnage) |
| Cast | Jodie Foster (Penelope Longstreet), Kate Winslet (Nancy Cowan), Christoph Waltz (Alan Cowan), John C. Reilly (Michael Longstreet)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/carnage) |
| Release | Limited US theatrical release December 16, 2011, distributed by Sony Pictures Classics; rated R for language[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/carnage) |
| Runtime and format | 79–80 minutes, in English, shot in a Paris studio with the action confined almost entirely to one apartment[3](https://www.crew-united.com/en/Carnage__134360.html) • [4](https://www.lfs.org.au/uploads/downloads/Newsreel-33-2.pdf) |
| Reception | 71% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 197 reviews; Metacritic metascore 61; US box office gross of $2.5 million[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/carnage) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/carnage-2011/) |
| Awards | César Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy for both Foster and Winslet; Leoncino Prize at the 2011 Venice Film Festival[6](https://www.sonyclassics.com/carnage/_pdf/carnage_presskit.pdf) |
| Source play | Premiered in 2006 at the Schauspielhaus Zürich; won the 2009 Tony Award for Best Play[7](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/jan/22/yasmina-reza-interview-carnage-polanski) • [2](https://www.sonyclassics.com/downloads/Carnage-Release.pdf) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and structure
The premise is a single incident: a roughhousing bout between two 11-year-old boys, Zachary Cowan and Ethan Longstreet, turns violent and Ethan loses two teeth.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/carnage) The parents of the "victim," Penelope and Michael Longstreet ([Jodie Foster](https://www.edgepedia.org/jodie-foster) and [John C. Reilly](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-c-reilly)), invite the parents of the "bully," Nancy and Alan Cowan ([Kate Winslet](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-winslet) and Christoph Waltz), to their apartment to work out the issue civilly.[8](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/carnage) What begins as a polite discussion of childrearing descends into finger-pointing, tantrums, and insults as all four parents reveal their true colors.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/carnage)
The film runs in real time and, apart from a brief dialogue-free prologue and epilogue in the park, never leaves the Longstreets' apartment and the hallway outside.[9](https://www.deepfocusreview.com/reviews/carnage/) • [10](https://www.awn.com/blog/carnage-2011) The Independent Cinema Office describes it as a one-scene comic drama exposing the hypocrisy, double-thinking, and charmlessness of the modern bourgeoisie.[11](https://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/films/11095/) Richard Brody of *The New Yorker* read the story as turning on guilt and responsibility, with the two boys conspicuously absent from the deliberations about them; he called the film's overall theme judicial indeterminacy, an ostensibly rational deliberation distorted by subjectivity and personal bias.[12](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/carnage-the-jury-is-out)
## From stage to screen
Reza's play *Le Dieu du carnage* premiered in 2006 at the Schauspielhaus Zürich and became a worldwide hit, winning the 2009 Tony Award for Best Play in its Broadway production.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/jan/22/yasmina-reza-interview-carnage-polanski) • [2](https://www.sonyclassics.com/downloads/Carnage-Release.pdf) Reza said *God of Carnage* was the only play of hers she agreed to change the location of for the screen; the film shifts the story from Paris to New York.[13](https://scriptmag.com/features/carnage-an-interview-with-yasmina-reza) • [14](https://www.timeout.com/movies/carnage) Producer Saïd Ben Saïd said Polanski made a near-literal transfer because he "didn't want to tell a story different from the original."[15](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-en-broadway-20111117-story.html)
The adaptation added material the stage version lacked, including the opening scene of the boys' fight near a basketball court in Brooklyn Bridge Park and invented scenes with the boys against a New York backdrop.[16](https://moveablefest.com/carnage-polanski-review-1/) • [17](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2012-jan-01-la-ca-mcnulty-movie-notebook-20120101-story.html) Reviewers divided on the result. *Deep Focus Review* called it one of the few play-to-film adaptations, along with *Glengarry Glen Ross*, to so lovingly preserve its source, while the *Los Angeles Times* judged it the least successful of the 2011 wave of play adaptations, arguing Polanski siphoned out the laughs of a tragicomic sketch.[9](https://www.deepfocusreview.com/reviews/carnage/) • [17](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2012-jan-01-la-ca-mcnulty-movie-notebook-20120101-story.html) The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus captures the middle ground: the film is not as compelling on screen as on stage, but Polanski's smooth direction and assured performances from Winslet and Foster make up for its flaws.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/carnage)
## Production
[Sony Pictures Classics](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-pictures-classics) announced its North American acquisition on April 14, 2011, expecting an end-of-year release.[2](https://www.sonyclassics.com/downloads/Carnage-Release.pdf) Shooting ran from January 17 to March 11, 2011 at the Studios de Bry-sur-Marne near Paris, on a set designed by Dean Tavoularis.[3](https://www.crew-united.com/en/Carnage__134360.html) • [4](https://www.lfs.org.au/uploads/downloads/Newsreel-33-2.pdf) The film is a French, German, Polish, and Spanish co-production led by SBS Films, with [Constantin Film](https://www.edgepedia.org/constantin-film), SPI International Polska, Versátil Cinema, Zanagar Films, and France 2 Cinéma.[3](https://www.crew-united.com/en/Carnage__134360.html)
Polanski assembled a crew of frequent collaborators and veterans: cinematographer Pawel Edelman (*The Pianist*), production designer Dean Tavoularis (*The Godfather*), editor Hervé de Luze, costume designer Milena Canonero, and composer [Alexandre Desplat](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexandre-desplat).[2](https://www.sonyclassics.com/downloads/Carnage-Release.pdf) • [6](https://www.sonyclassics.com/carnage/_pdf/carnage_presskit.pdf) Polanski's son Elvis plays Zachary.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/carnage)
## Festival run and reception
*Carnage* premiered in competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival, won the Leoncino Prize there, opened the 2011 [New York Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-film-festival), and screened as a gala at AFI Fest.[18](https://asac.labiennale.org/attivita/cinema/225294) • [6](https://www.sonyclassics.com/carnage/_pdf/carnage_presskit.pdf) It went on to win the César Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and earned Golden Globe nominations for Foster and Winslet as Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy.[6](https://www.sonyclassics.com/carnage/_pdf/carnage_presskit.pdf)
On review aggregators it scored 71% on the Tomatometer from 197 reviews with a 66% audience score, and a Metacritic metascore of 61 from 40 critics, in the "generally favorable" band.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/carnage) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/carnage-2011/) Critics singled out the four-hander acting. Geoffrey Macnab, reviewing the Venice premiere for *The Independent*, wrote that the coruscating dialogue and four tremendous central performances let the film transcend its stage origins, comparing its pitiless dissection of middle-class couples to *Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*[19](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/carnage-venice-film-festival-2347819.html) Time Out gave it four stars, praising a captivating and comic exercise in confinement and hysteria.[14](https://www.timeout.com/movies/carnage) Dissenting voices included Peter Travers of *Rolling Stone*, who wrote that the film version had lost the laughs of the play along with the "God" of its title.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/carnage-2011/) The limited US release grossed $2.5 million.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/carnage)
## References
1. [Carnage, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/carnage)
2. [Sony Pictures Classics to Release Roman Polanski's Carnage in North America (press release, April 14, 2011)](https://www.sonyclassics.com/downloads/Carnage-Release.pdf)
3. [Carnage, Crew United](https://www.crew-united.com/en/Carnage__134360.html)
4. [Newsreel 33-2, Lindfield Film Society](https://www.lfs.org.au/uploads/downloads/Newsreel-33-2.pdf)
5. [Carnage Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/carnage-2011/)
6. [Carnage press kit, Sony Pictures Classics](https://www.sonyclassics.com/carnage/_pdf/carnage_presskit.pdf)
7. [Yasmina Reza: 'There's no point in writing theatre if it's not accessible', The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/jan/22/yasmina-reza-interview-carnage-polanski)
8. [Carnage, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/carnage)
9. [Carnage (2011), Deep Focus Review](https://www.deepfocusreview.com/reviews/carnage/)
10. [Carnage (2011), Animation World Network](https://www.awn.com/blog/carnage-2011)
11. [Carnage, Independent Cinema Office](https://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/films/11095/)
12. ["Carnage": The Jury Is Out, The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/carnage-the-jury-is-out)
13. [Carnage: An Interview With Yasmina Reza, Script Magazine](https://scriptmag.com/features/carnage-an-interview-with-yasmina-reza)
14. [Carnage film review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/carnage)
15. [Stage adaptations come with a title but not a warranty, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-en-broadway-20111117-story.html)
16. [NYFF '11 Review: Polanski Presides Over a Cleaner "Carnage", The Moveable Fest](https://moveablefest.com/carnage-polanski-review-1/)
17. [When going from stage to screen, things change in between, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2012-jan-01-la-ca-mcnulty-movie-notebook-20120101-story.html)
18. [Scheda film: Carnage, La Biennale ASAC](https://asac.labiennale.org/attivita/cinema/225294)
19. [Carnage, Venice Film Festival, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/carnage-venice-film-festival-2347819.html)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media › Films based on stage plays*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license