Warner Bros. might have a cult hit on their hands with the hilarious, unpredictable black comedy Game Night. The movie revolves around married couple Max (Jason Bateman, who's found recent small screen success with the Netflix series Ozark) and Annie (Rachel McAdams), two hyper-competitive people who host a weekly game night with fellow married couple Kevin (Lamorne Morris) and Michelle (Kylie Bunbury), as well as their dimwitted friend Ryan (Billy Magnussen) and whatever woman he happens to be with that night - usually a vapid, age-inappropriate idiot, though on this night he's accompanied by the older, whip smart Sarah (Sharon Horgan).The group is on a constant mission to dodge the advances of Max and Annie's neighbor, the sad-sack police officer Gary (Jesse Plemons), who's divorced from their friend Debbie. When Max's hot shot entrepreneur brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) rolls into town, he decides to spice up the group's game night with something much edgier than board games and charades, kicking off a bewildering, hilarious chain of events. We're giving you a cheat sheet for every twist and turn in the movie, as well as an explainer on the film's ending.Related: Game Night Trailer: Couples Night Goes Wrong
A Fake Fake Kidnapping
When the group convenes at Brooks' luxurious rented home, he lays out the rules of the night's festivities - one of them will soon be kidnapped, and the rest of them will be given a set of clues in order to find their missing friend. After a fake FBI agent (Jeffrey Wright, making a fun cameo before getting back to his day job on Westworld this spring) provides the group with their files full of clues, two armed henchmen bust down Brooks' door, knock out the FBI agent, and begin a brutal brawl through the house with Brooks, who they're attempting to kidnap.
The group is giddy at the seemingly realistic fight - unaware that this is not part of the evening's game, and that these are real armed men attempting to apprehend Brooks for reasons that will become clear later. Each duo engages in the game in earnest; Max and Annie forego the clues and follow the van with the armed men (with Annie picking up what she believes to be a fake gun that Brooks dropped during the fight), Kevin and Michelle try to play the "game" fair and square, following their file of clues, and Ryan and Sarah decide to cheat by paying off the murder mystery company that Brooks hired for the night. None of them realize they're playing a very real, very dangerous game.
Chekhov's Brother's Gun
Max and Annie manage to track the henchmen who kidnapped Brooks to a seedy dive bar, still believing they're taking part in an elaborate party game. When the henchmen move in on them, Annie pulls out what she believes to be Brooks' fake gun and demands they all get on the ground in yoga positions. She dances and sings along two Third Eye Blind's "Semi-Charmed Life" while Max determines how mean their insults should be. They eventually realize Brooks is in the next room and assume they've won the game, but Brooks tells them that this is no game, and that these men intend to kill him. Max and Annie are incredulous, but as the henchmen attempt to bust open the door, Annie accidentally shoots Max in the arm, realizing her gun is real in the most emphatic way possible. They cut Brooks free and run for their lives.
Brooks The Smuggler
As they're pursued by the henchmen, Brooks admits to Max and Annie he's not an entrepreneur, but a high-end smuggler needs to get a Fabergé egg currently in the hands of a billionaire named Donald Anderton to a man known only as the Bulgarian, or he'll be killed. In an effort to save Max and Annie, Brooks throws himself out of the car, and he's recaptured by the henchmen. After a gag-inducing effort to fix Max's bullet wound, the entire gang reconvenes and decide to save Brooks by stealing the egg from Anderton - but they have to find him first, which they manage to do by staging an impromptu game night at Gary's house and secretly accessing his police database.
The group manages to break into Anderton's mansion, where he's hosting a Fight Club party, much to Ryan's glee. Ryan manages to grab the egg and, after a pretty impressive game of catch, they manage to escape the mansion with the egg in hand... before smashing it to pieces when Kevin accidentally throws on the brakes in their getaway car. To their surprise, they realize the egg is a fake, and the real treasure is on the inside - a list of names of people in witness protection, which Brooks intended to deliver to the Bulgarian.
Gary The Mastermind (Sort Of)
To their surprise - and somewhat improbably - the group spots Brooks being accosted by the henchmen on the side of the road. They attempt to rescue Brooks but are quickly put down by the henchmen. Just as they're about to be executed, Gary rolls up in his police cruiser and exchanges gunfire with the two henchmen, seemingly killing them and taking a bullet to the chest himself. As Max and Annie console him and apologize for excluding them, Gary smiles and reveals this has all been a ruse that he's orchestrated to prove he's fun and worth hanging out with. The two henchmen get up, their bullet wounds fakes - they're parolees doing Gary a favor in exchange for time off their sentences.
But just as Gary is ready to take a victory lap, another car drives up, and this time Gary takes a real bullet to the shoulder. Unrelated to Gary's innocuous plan, the Bulgarian (Michael C. Hall, channeling his most menacing Dexter moments) has arrived, and he wants what's owed to him. Realizing the Bulgarian will kill him once he has the witness protection list, Brooks swallows the list, and a mad dash commences as Max and Annie attempt to save Brooks. After forcing an incredibly low altitude plane crash, Max and Annie manage to incapacitate the Bulgarian and save Brooks at the authorities arrive.
A Happy Ending... Just Don't Look Outside
After the runway rescue, the action cuts to three months later, where the group - including Gary - have a game night at Brooks' place, who's under house arrest for the next three years for his role in the smuggling plot. It's a happy occasion, as Annie reveals to Max that she's pregnant through a game of charades. But not everything is celebratory; Max can't help but feel uneasy when Brooks tells him he sold the witness protection list to some very bad people for $3 million, and that he also gave each person on the list a heads-up for a $20,000 fee. As the group celebrates Max and Annie's happy news, the camera pulls back to reveal a black van full of masked men loading their guns, as it seems another deadly game night is about to commence due to Brooks' foolishness.
Stay After The Credits!
Perhaps in preparation for their next gig directing the Flashpoint movie, directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein include both a mid-credits scene and a post-credits scene. The mid-credits scene chronicles the intricacies of Gary's game night plan. The post-credits scene pays off one running joke in a very ma Also, throughout the film, Gary laments the death of his marriage to his beloved Debbie, whom he suspects has moved on to a new man. The post-credits scene reveals she has - it's Kenny.