The Full Picture

The Big Picture · Interview

‘The Oath’ and Ike Barinholtz’s Response to the Chaotic News Cycle | The Big Picture (Ep. 88)

October 12, 2018/ 40 min/ Sean Fennessy

Sean Fennessey talks to Ike Barinholtz about writing, directing, and starring in The Oath, a Thanksgiving-dinner-goes-dystopian comedy he shot in 19 days, plus the state of studio comedy.

5 films across 1 segment.

AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.

Ike Barinholtz on 'The Oath'

The Oath poster
Ike Barinholtz on

The Oath 2018

Barinholtz's writing-directing-starring debut, shot in 19 days for QC Entertainment (Get Out). Started as a real argument at his family's Thanksgiving table after Trump's election and merged with an idea about a government loyalty pledge that comes with tax and healthcare perks. Tiffany Haddish's character is loosely based on his own wife; John Cho plays a civil-servant enforcer; Billy Magnussen's villain was rewritten as a young man after Charlottesville. The frame tightens and the palette darkens as the movie turns from family comedy to something closer to home invasion.

Children of Men poster
Ike Barinholtz on

Children of Men 2006

His go-to dystopia touchstone and a direct model for The Oath, though not for the jokes: there are none, save Michael Caine's fart. He drew from its sense of people clinging to a decayed world.

Mrs. Miniver poster
Ike Barinholtz on

Mrs. Miniver 1942

The Greer Garson drama he thought of as two movies stitched together: idyllic English countryside life, then a Nazi soldier shows up in the house.

M*A*S*H poster
Ike Barinholtz on

M*A*S*H 1970

Cited for Altman's ability to land a genuine joke inside carnage: the blood-soaked surgeons batting away Hot Lips' small talk.

Manchester by the Sea poster
Ike Barinholtz on

Manchester by the Sea 2016

His example of a scene playing agony and comedy at once: the gurney that won't fit in the ambulance.

Also mentioned raised along the way

The cast's other credits Get OutBlacKkKlansmanKeanuGirls TripSearchingThe Big ShortMeet the Spartans

The state of studio comedy ZoolanderStep BrothersNeighborsBlockersThe HangoverBridesmaidsGame NightI Feel PrettyGhostbustersAvengers: Infinity War

The last great thing he's seen Crazy Rich AsiansEighth Grade

Coming up on the show First ManMid90s

Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads

TV The Mindy ProjectEastbound & DownThe ApprenticeBoardwalk EmpireAmerican Crime Story

Podcasts Ike's Hollywood Tips

Promos Ringer NBA Palooza

Ads Warby Parker