''Affairs of State'' is a 2018 American

political thriller A political thriller is a thriller that is set against the backdrop of a political power struggle, high stakes and suspense is the core of the story. The genre often forces the audiences to consider and understand the importance of politics. The ...

film directed by

Eric Bross Eric Bross is an American film director. He has directed numerous films since 1995. He won the Directors Guild of America's Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs for ''The Boy Who Cried Werewolf'' (2010) on Nickelodeo ...

and starring

David Corenswet David Packard Corenswet (born July 8, 1993) is an American actor. After graduating from the Juilliard School in 2016, he began guest starring in television series, including ''House of Cards'' in 2018. He then played lead roles in the Netflix seri ...

Thora Birch Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an American actress and producer. She made her feature film debut in 1988 with a starring role in ''Purple People Eater'', for which she received a Young Artist Award for "Best Young Actress Under Nine Years ...

David James Elliott David James Elliott (born September 21, 1960) is a Canadian actor who was the star of the series '' JAG'', playing lead character Harmon Rabb Jr. from 1995 to 2005. Early life Elliott was born David William Smith on September 21, 1960, in Milton ...

Grace Victoria Cox Grace Victoria Cox (born March 10, 1995) is an American actress. She is known for playing Melanie Cross in the CBS series '' Under the Dome'' (2014–2015), Veronica Sawyer in the Paramount Network series ''Heathers'' (2018), and Lexie in the Ne ...

Mimi Rogers Miriam Rogers (née Spickler; born January 27, 1956) is an American actress. Her notable film roles are ''Gung Ho'' (1986), '' Someone to Watch Over Me'' (1987), ''Desperate Hours'' (1990), and '' Full Body Massage'' (1995). She garnered the grea ...

, and

Adrian Grenier Adrian Sean Grenier (born July 10, 1976) is an American actor, producer, director and musician. He is best known for his portrayal of Vincent Chase in the television series ''Entourage'' (2004–2011). He has appeared in films such as ''Drive Me ...

. It was released in select theaters and via

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

on June 15, 2018, by

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

Synopsis

A young congressional aide, Michael Lawrence (

), has an affair with the wife (

) of his boss, Senator John Baines (

). Meanwhile, Baines' ruthless top aide ( Adrien Grenier) is in his way. Lawrence then unexpectedly falls for the Senator's daughter (

) and must go tête à tête with his leftist activist housemate (

Critical response

Noel Murray of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' stated, "an engaging if ungainly hybrid of ''

The Graduate ''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from W ...

'' and ''

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a structu ...

'', the political potboiler ''Affairs of State'' benefits greatly from being both timely and, for this day and age, uncommon. In an era when so many indies are either genre exercises or quirky dramedies, a well-acted, ripped-from-the-headlines melodrama is a novelty." Conversely, Derek Smith of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' offered in summation, "as ''Affairs of States primary interests lie almost exclusively between the sheets, the intermittent jabs taken at establishment politics feel like disingenuous, cheap shots intended to give the film a sense of depth and gravity that it doesn't earn."

References

External links

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Affairs of State
' at the Numbers {{DEFAULTSORT:Affairs of State 2018 thriller films 2010s political thriller films American political thriller films Films directed by Eric Bross Films set in Washington, D.C. 2010s English-language films 2010s American films