History Film / GameNight

** Max describes his reluctance to settle down with Annie using ''VideoGame/PacMan''. He says that when they used to play the game together, they stayed alive by eating the pellets and avoiding the fruit, but neither of them ever made it on the leaderboard. Annie disappointedly deduces that Max believes that them starting a family will permanently bar him from "the leaderboard of life", and notes that Brooks is AlwaysSomeoneBetter to him because he's always "gone for the fruit", which is why "the ghosts" [[spoiler:(the criminals after him)]] are going to "eat" [[spoiler:(kill)]] him. [[spoiler:Once they start getting into dangerous chases around the climax, Annie snarks if that's the "fruit" of their relationship Max had in mind. Come the end of the film, the "fruit" becomes starting a family.]]

*** After Ryan locks Kevin and Michelle in a room in Brooks's mansion, Kevin plans to burn down the door with matches. When Michelle points out the stupidity of "[lighting] a fire in a windowless room that we're trapped in", Kevin, still frustrated from the above reveal, snarks that the celebrity must've been Series/BillNyeTheScienceGuy for her to know so much about fire.

*** After Ryan locks Kevin and Michelle in a room in Brooks's house, Kevin plans to burn down the door with matches. When Michelle points out the stupidity of "[lighting] a fire in a windowless room that we're trapped in", Kevin, still frustrated from the above reveal, snarks that the celebrity must've been Series/BillNyeTheScienceGuy for her to know so much about fire.

*** ''[[Literature/BreakingDawn Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn]]'', ''Film/TheCryingGame'', and ''Film/BoysDontCry'' gets name-dropped as guesses.

* ShoutOut: [[ReferenceOverdosed Many of them.]]

*** ''[[Literature/BreakingDawn Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn]]'', ''Film/TheCryingGame'', and ''Film/BoysDontCry'' gets name-dropped as a guess.

*** ''[[Literature/BreakingDawn Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn]]'' gets name-dropped as a guess.

** Max describes his reluctance to settle down with Annie using ''VideoGame/PacMan''. He says that when they used to play the game together, they stayed alive by eating the pellets and avoiding the fruit, but neither of them ever made it on the leaderboard. Annie disappointedly deduces that Max believes that them starting a family will permanently bar him from "the leaderboard of life", and notes that Brooks is AlwaysSomeoneBetter to him because he's always "gone for the fruit", which is why "the ghosts" [[spoiler:(the criminals after him)]] are going to "eat" [[spoiler:(kill)]] him. [[spoiler:Come the end of the film, Max is all in on starting a family, and finally considers it fruit and not pellets.]]

** After Ryan locks Kevin and Michelle in a room in Brooks's house, Kevin plans to burn down the door with matches. When Michelle points out the stupidity of "[lighting] a fire in a windowless room that we're trapped in"

* ShoutOut:
** Upon arriving at Brooks's huge mansion, Max compares him to [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] and asks if they should give their drink orders to Jarvis.
** Max references ''Film/PrimalFear'' and ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008'' when trying to get his team to guess Creator/EdwardNorton, but his team guesses all the ''other'' Hulk actors films and TV series instead of that one.

** Kevin calls [[spoiler:the fight club]] "some ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' bullshit" and "''[[Film/EyesWideShut Eyes Wide]]'' ''Film/FightClub''".
** Michelle inadvertently reveals to Kevin that she once slept with a celebrity, and a majority of their interactions throughout the film are marked by Kevin not being able to move past that. She ultimately tells him that the celebrity was [[spoiler:Creator/DenzelWashington, to which Kevin reacts in disbelief and promptly finds out that it was merely a man who looked like him. Kevin then starts doing a Denzel impression which ends with him saying, [[Film/TrainingDay "The real Denzel ain't got SHIT on me!"]]]]

* ComicallySmallBribe: Ryan tries bribing the "Murder We Wrote" employee to let them hop scotch to the final clue, which starts with him dramatically placing down $10, then upping it with another five and eventually a couple of ones. The employee is unimpressed, expecting at least $100, and he confesses that was all the cash he had on him. Sarah has to toss out a $100 bill, and Ryan is upset when the employee takes it ''and'' his $17.

** In Gary's initial interaction with Max and Annie, he spots that Gary is carrying three bags of Tostitos Scoops from the store, which seems to go against their insistence that they're not having a game night. Max claims there was a 3-for-1 deal on them, to which Gary asks, "How can that be profitable for Frito-Lay?" His StringTheory display in the end credits includes a reply from Frito-Lay which confirms that Tostitos Scoops DO NOT come 3-for-1.

* CarHoodSliding: Gary pulls this off with his police car in the climax. His StringTheory display in the credits includes a computer playing a compilation of footage he recorded of himself practicing the slide, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome with each attempt resulting in failure]].

* RecklessGunUsage: Annie ends up in possession of Brooks ankle gun, a snub nose revolver. She thinks it is a fake gun, AllPartOfTheShow, and spends half the film playing with it like it is a toy, even putting the barrel in her mouth for a selfie. When she hands it off to Max he doesn't even bother holding it remotely properly, palming it sideways. When Brooks tells her it is a real gun she did a test fire, shattering a light and she immediately drops it, shooting Max in the arm.

* RightWingMilitiaFanatic: Annie finds instructions on how to remove a bullet on "an alt-right militia website", and mentions having to look past "the racist stuff" in order to figure it out.

** Gary's StringTheory includes VHS cassettes of ''Film/{{Philadelphia}}'', ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' and ''Film/TheGreenMile'', which he watched in preparation for [[spoiler:his own death scene]]. Gary also tries tries to convey ''The Green Mile'' in a ''Pictionary'' game where he just draws his crying face, feeling that this reaction would be enough to be understood.

** Michelle inadvertently reveals to Kevin that she once slept with a celebrity, and a majority of their interactions throughout the film are marked by Kevin not being able to move past that. She ultimately tells him that the celebrity was [[spoiler:Creator/DenzelWashington, to which Kevin reacts in disbelief and promptly finds out that it was merely a man who looked like him. He then starts doing a Denzel impression which ends with him saying, [[Film/TrainingDay "The real Denzel ain't got SHIT on me!"]]]]

* TheStinger: This film also has a brief scene at the very end of the credits involving another appearance of "Not Denzel" and a first on-screen appearance of Debbie, Gary's ex-wife.
* StringTheory: The CreativeClosingCredits feature Gary's basement which details [[spoiler:his plan to get back into game night.]]

* WhatYouAreInTheDark: When the group finally figured out that the game is for real and they have to steal a {{MacGuffin}} to trade for Brook's life, Max and Annie tell the others that it's a family obligation and invites everyone else to leave. Kevin, Michelle and Ryan refuse, saying the reason they have game night is because [[TrueCompanions they love them like family]], while it is noted that Sarah is a newcomer and has no actual ties to them. She insists on staying too because if she goes home and the next morning hears the worst has happened she wouldn't forgive herself.

** The opening montage includes Max and Annie meeting at a game night and smiling broadly into the camera at each other. Max then proposes to Ann through a game of ''TabletopGame/{{Pictionary}}''. In the end, [[spoiler:Annie reveals that she's pregnant through a game of ''Pictionary'', and her and Max smile broadly at each other into the camera]].

* EveryoneHasStandards: Annie initially isn't very fond of Brooks, given that [[SiblingRivalry Brooks constantly undermines Max at practically any opportunity]] and she blames Brooks for stressing Max out causing them to have [[LawOfInverseFertility conceiving problems]]. However, when Annie catches on that Brooks is in severe danger and being held for ransom [[spoiler:though the first time was a sham conceived by Gary to include him in their game nights]], she is '''clearly''' terrified and worried for Brooks' safety, and rather than encouraging Max to leave him for dead, fully dedicates herself to save him. The same can be said about Annie in regards to Gary. Moments after his introduction and Max asks why they don't invite him to game nights, Annie says that Debbie, Gary's ex-wife, was their friend and that Gary was just the [[NoSocialSkills "creepy]] husband that [[TheFriendNobodyLikes we had to put up with".]] Although after Gary got shot in the chest area, [[spoiler:once again the first time was part of Gary's plot, the second time was real, though he thankfully lived]] Annie was horrified at what happened and even [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone tearfully apologized to Gary for shunning him and saying he was their friend.]]

* HollywoodBoardGames: Annie and Max prefer to communicate by means of ''TabletopGame/{{Pictionary}}'' games, playing BoardGames a pastime they both enjoy and find relaxing. Sometimes, it's for important matters -- Max proposes to her by drawing a ring and [[spoiler:Annie reveals to him that she's pregnant by drawing a "bun in the oven"]]. Other times, it's more casual things such as Gary's InUniverse TearJerker reaction to ''Film/TheGreenMile''.

* PragmaticVillainy: The Bulgarian [[spoiler doesn't kill anyone he doesn't need to. He neutralizes Gary (an armed police officer) via a shoulder shot and a knockout, and is perfectly willing to let everyone except Brooks go once he gets the [=WitSec=] list, since none of them were trying to screw him over. [[RuleOfFunny This makes it all the funnier when]] he decides that he would rather ''cut Brooks open inside a small jet during takeoff and dig through his guts'' rather than have to dissect his poop.]]

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: PlayedForLaughs when an unfortunate henchman who was threatening Annie gets sucked into a jet turbine. At first she cheers, but then immediately backpedals with very unconvincing grief when she remembers [[AndThatsTerrible she's not supposed to cheer people's deaths.]]

* ReliablyUnreliableGuns: Crossed egregiously with GunsDoNotWorkThatWay. The revolver went off and shot Max in the arm, despite the hammer sitting uncocked on an empty cartridge because Annie had ''just fired it'', meaning it wouldn't be able to fire again without the trigger being pulled or the hammer being cocked back first.

* HereWeGoAgain: The movie ends with the same group doing a game night, a revelation that Brooks hasn't ''quite'' reformed from his dirty dealing... and a reveal of more masked thugs in a van outside getting their guns ready.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: A lot of Max's stress stems from the fact that Brooks manages to effortlessly outdo him at everything. [[spoiler:Although it's ultimately subverted, as it turns out that the only reason Brooks manages to constantly win is through cheating, and his absurd wealth is due to VERY illegal activities. He also admits that all his lies about being a stock broker and venture capitalist is due to jealousy that Max actually went to college, has a legitimate job and is HappilyMarried. In Brooks's mind, ''Max'' is Always Someone Better because while his successes are more modest, he came by them honestly and has a much more stable and happy life]].
* ApatheticCitizens: When Annie is trying to remove the bullet from Max's arm while in an alleyway a random pedestrian walks by, stops briefly to look at them, and moves on.

* BloodyHilarious: After Max is shot in the arm, there are two major cases, first when Annie tries removing the bullet (and only when she touches his bone she notices the exit wound!) and then when the bleeding gash ends up dripping on a dog.

** The opening montage includes Max and Annie meeting at a game night and smiling broadly into the camera at each other. Then Max proposes to Ann through a game of ''TabletopGame/{{Pictionary}}''. In the end, [[spoiler:Annie reveals that she's pregnant through a game of ''Pictionary'', and Max and Ann smile broadly at each other into the camera]].
** Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" plays during the opening scene. Queen's "We Are the Champions" plays during the last scene.

** When Max and Annie are talking about Brooks and the stress his success causes Max with Dr. Chen, Dr. Chen asks if Brooks is single. [[spoiler:In the Three Months Later epilogue, she's present at Brooks's game night, and Brooks says that she will be moving in with him once his parole is over.]]
** In Gary's StringTheory display in the end credits, a reply from Frito-Lay confirms that Tostitos Scoop Chips DO NOT come three-for-one.
** When the kidnapper calls, Ryan is scared because he sounds like a monster. [[spoiler:The credits show that Gary's voice changer is set to 'monster'.]]
** When undermining Max during the charades game at the beginning, Brooks tells the story of how Max was once caught trying to fellate himself with the help of a bungee cord. At the end, Brooks is amused to see Max tying up [[spoiler:the Bulgarian]] with a bungee cord in a way that looks a lot like self-fellation.
--->'''Brooks:''' Whoa. Well, look at that. Put a bungee cord in your hand, you go straight to the pervy place, don't ya?
* BrokenPedestal: Of a sort, at least; while Max resents Brooks, he also envies his high-flying cool lifestyle and Annie accuses him of resisting starting a family because of this. However, throughout the movie it's eventually exposed that [[spoiler:Brooks is nothing but a crook who only has the trappings of success through cheating and dishonest dealing. Realising this doesn't so much cause Max disillusionment, however, as much as it simply helps him realise that ultimately Brooks is just a "loser" and he doesn't need to measure himself against him.]]

** An uncredited Creator/JeffreyWright is the fake FBI Agent who gives the group their 'dossiers' at the start of the game night.

* CannotTellFictionFromReality: The players are specifically told by Brooks that they're not gonna know what's real and what's fake in the mystery game. Right after telling them that, Brooks gets kidnapped right under their eyes, and they consider that kidnapping as part of the game.
* CelebrityParadox: The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse exists in that film's world, since ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008'' is mentioned, along with the two actors who play Bruce Banner/Hulk in it. Creator/RachelMcAdams plays Christine Palmer, Film/DoctorStrange2016's LoveInterest in the MCU.
* ChekhovsGag:
** At the first game night Ryan seems oddly obsessed with a random internet rumor that the wealthy elite hire poor people to engage in FightClubbing so they can bet on the outcome. [[spoiler:When they go to steal a valuable item from a mansion, they end up seeing an underground fighting party. Ryan is elated at being proven right]].
** Max mentions getting the drop on the Bulgarian through the top exit in the plane but his entrance is seen. Annie later drops a fire extinguisher on the Bulgarian's head and says, "Now ''that's'' how you get the drop on someone."
** Brooks's story about young Max's autoerotic misadventure with a bungee cord [[spoiler:pays off when Max uses such a cord to tie the Bulgarian up on the plane, much to Brooks's amusement.]]

-->'''Max:''' ''(exasperated)'' Charades. What a cute full circle.
* TheChessmaster: If the closing credits are to be believed [[spoiler:Gary knows about more than he lets on including the Bulgarian.]]

* FightClubbing: Ryan insists, to ridicule from his friends, that this is a secret pastime of the ultra-wealthy. [[spoiler:It turns out that he's absolutely correct]].

* HollywoodBoardGames: Annie and Max prefer to communicate by means of ''TabletopGame/{{Pictionary}}'' games, playing BoardGames a pastime they both enjoy and find relaxing. Sometimes, it's for important matters -- Max proposes to her by drawing a ring and Annie reveals to him that she's [[spoiler:pregnant]] by drawing a "bun in the oven". Other times, it's more casual things such as Gary's InUniverse TearJerker reaction to ''Film/TheGreenMile''.
* HypocriticalHumor: The Bulgarian is disgusted at the idea of sifting through Brooks's feces and then says "Now hold still while I cut your stomach open."

* JugglingLoadedGuns: Max and Annie assume that Brooks's gun is AllPartOfTheShow and deliberately mishandle it for several scenes, believing that it's harmless. Annie even sticks the barrel in her mouth while posing for a photo. Ultimately they give it more respect when Max is accidentally shot by the gun.

** After Brooks is taken (with the others still believing nothing has gone wrong) each couple takes a different strategy to find Brooks and win the car:

*** Ryan and Sarah find Brooks's wallet, which gives Sarah the idea to call the credit card company and find out the company running the game, [[SequenceBreaking so they can bribe someone there to give them the final clue.]]

** They split up again in Anderton's house to look for the egg, although Ryan stays right where he is because he wants to watch the fight club. [[spoiler:He finds the egg.]]

** The movie opens with Max and Annie meeting at a bar trivia contest, the leaders of their respective teams, and they answer [[BirdsOfAFeather the same question at the same time]]. It even gives a close-up of their faces as they meet eyes and get flustered. A quick montage shows them playing other games and eventually Max proposing to Annie via a charades game, the title appears at their wedding (with VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution behind them). It is {{Book End}}ed with [[spoiler:Annie doing a ''Pictionary'' game outlining "Bun in the Oven" as her way of telling Max she was pregnant. It even gives a similar close up of their faces as they smile at each other]].
** The end-credits cut scene also involves [[spoiler:Kevin, the guy Michelle mistook for Denzel Washington, and Gary's ex-wife Debbie]] having one of these.

* MoodWhiplash: In-universe; after being confronted by a {{Mook|s}} only to then see him sent him flying through a jet plane's turbine engine, Annie initially reacts with gleeful triumph only to suddenly remember that she's just witnessed a man's actual horrible death and that this isn't an appropriate reaction: "Oh no! He died!"

* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: Gary's password for his computer is, of course, the name of his ex-wife. To the point where Max, while trying to hack it, barely needs to pause for thought before guessing what it might be.

** Brooks catches Max's Tony Stark reference but invokes this trope and pretends to have no idea who Jarvis is when Max continues the gag, so he can dismiss him as a nerd.
* PullTheThread: Gary's efforts to do this and disprove Max and Annie's (admittedly rather feeble) lies about not continuing to host their games nights border on investigation and interrogation (fittingly, since he's a cop). This even leads to writing a corn-chip company to confirm that they don't do three-for-one discount deals.

* RunningGag: Early on Kevin is surprised that Brook's glass table doesn't break when he is thrown onto it. Later he comments that, "Glass tables are acting weird tonight!" when Ryan tackles a man onto another glass table that doesn't break.

** Upon arriving at Brooks's huge mansion, Max compares him to Tony Stark and asks if they should give their drink orders to Jarvis.
** Max references ''Film/PrimalFear'' and ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008'' when trying to get his team to guess Creator/EdwardNorton, but his team guesses all the ''other'' Hulk films and TV series instead of that one.
** Annie quotes Honey Bunny's line from ''Film/PulpFiction'', which Max identifies by name.
** Gary's StringTheory includes VHS cassettes of ''Film/{{Philadelphia}}'', ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' and ''Film/TheGreenMile'', which he watched in preparation for [[spoiler:his own death scene.]] Gary also tries tries to convey ''The Green Mile'' in a ''Pictionary'' game where he just draws his crying face, feeling that this reaction would be enough to be understood.
** Kevin compares [[spoiler:the fight club]] to ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' and ''Film/EyesWideShut''.

''Game Night'' is an 2018 American BlackComedy film with some mystery and thriller elements, directed by Creator/JohnFrancisDaley and Jonathan Goldstein and written by Mark Perez.

The film stars Creator/JasonBateman and Creator/RachelMcAdams and the supporting cast includes Creator/KyleChandler, Creator/BillyMagnussen, Creator/SharonHorgan, Creator/LamorneMorris, Creator/KylieBunbury, Creator/JessePlemons, Creator/MichaelCHall and Creator/JeffreyWright.

!!Provides examples of:
* AffablyEvil: The Bulgarian does have a long list of crimes including murder, torture, and human trafficking, but he's very polite when confronting the players and seems willing to let them walk away unharmed, until [[spoiler:Brooks [[EatTheEvidence eats the]] MacGuffin. Even then, he only kidnaps Brooks and leaves the rest alone. He also neutralizes Gary (an armed police officer) by simply shooting him in the shoulder and knocking him out instead of killing him.]]

** {{Inverted|Trope}} when the fake kidnappers arrive, brandishing prop guns. They're initially mistaken for real assailants but quickly break character when they realize something has gone awry. When Max and Annie rescue Brooks and find out the gun was real they finally realize that it was not a game. This marks a turning point in the story where they don't dismiss what is going on.
** {{Subverted|Trope}} later on, when it turns out [[spoiler:the abduction and subsequent chase ''was'' part of the show— Max's neighbor Gary hijacked Brooks's game to find his way back into the weekly game night. The thugs are real felons, but Gary convinced them to add some realism to the game, including his own fake death by gunshot.]]

** ''Then'' it's DoubleSubverted: [[spoiler:Gary actually didn't know anything about the MacGuffin that Brooks cheated The Bulgarian out of; when he shows up and shoots Gary, the players initially assume it’s yet another plot twist. It isn't, and The Bulgarian kidnaps Brooks for real.]]
** Finally {{parodied|Trope}} by the film’s end: [[spoiler: Max declares that he’s ready to have kids with Annie and accept the responsibility of being a father, to which Brooks leans in and tells them that he engineered the ''entire night’s events,'' including millions of dollars’ worth of property damage and at least one death, to teach his brother the lessons he needed to learn. As Annie and Max stare in shocked silence, Brooks tells the unconscious Bulgarian to get up and break character; he doesn’t, and Brooks admits after a {{beat}} that he’s [[ItAmusedMe just fucking with his brother.]]]]

** Technically speaking, the "bad guy" throughout much of the movie ''is'' a cop, [[spoiler: since Gary, a police officer, turns out to have masterminded most of the events of the film to try and get back into the game night. Although this one's downplayed, since Gary is otherwise a decent man who's just a little too fixated on being part of the game night.]]
* BigBrotherBully: Brooks towards Max. He enters the movie by making a big scene of arriving at Max and Annie's house, makes rather patronising comments about Max's life [[BackhandedCompliment disguised as compliments]], upstages, ridicules and humiliates Max in front of all of his friends and undermines him in order to beat him at the games. Annie is vocally disgusted with Brooks's behaviour after he leaves and notes that while she'd previously just assumed that Max's complex about Brooks was just down to standard SiblingRivalry, after spending time with him she can fully see why Max has a problem with him. [[spoiler: It's later revealed to be part of an InferioritySuperiorityComplex; Brooks has lied about all of his achievements and hasn't actually managed to accomplish ''anything'' in his life without lying, cheating or breaking the law to do so, and knows full well that Max is actually the better person of the two of them.]]

** When Max and Annie are talking about Brooks and the stress his success causes Max with Dr. Chen, Dr. Chen asks if Brooks is single. [[spoiler: In the Three Months Later epilogue, she's present at Brooks's game night, and Brooks says that she will be moving in with him once his parole is over.]]

** When undermining Max during the charades game at the beginning, Brooks tells the story of how Max was once caught trying to fellate himself with the help of a bungee cord. At the end, Brooks is amused to see Max tying up [[spoiler: the Bulgarian]] with a bungee cord in a way that looks a lot like self-fellation.

* BrokenPedestal: Of a sort, at least; while Max resents Brooks, he also envies his high-flying cool lifestyle and Annie accuses him of resisting starting a family because of this. However, throughout the movie it's eventually exposed that [[spoiler: Brooks is nothing but a crook who only has the trappings of success through cheating and dishonest dealing. Realising this doesn't so much cause Max disillusionment, however, as much as it simply helps him realise that ultimately Brooks is just a "loser" and he doesn't need to measure himself against him.]]
* TheCameo:

** Creator/MichaelCHall as The Bulgarian
** Creator/ChelseaPeretti plays the head of the acting agency that stages the roleplay games.

** At the first game night Ryan seems oddly obsessed with a random internet rumor that the wealthy elite hire poor people to engage in FightClubbing so they can bet on the outcome. [[spoiler: When they go to steal a valuable item from a mansion, they end up seeing an underground fighting party. Ryan is elated at being proven right]].

* ChekhovsSkill: Max and Annie have to communicate through charades in the climax. Like nearly everything else in the movie, it’s {{Lampshaded}}.
-->'''Max:''' ''(exasperated)'' Charades. What a cute full circle.
* TheChessmaster: If the closing credits are to be believed [[spoiler: Gary knows about more than he lets on including the Bulgarian.]]
* ComicallySmallBribe: Ryan tries bribing the "Murder We Wrote" employee to let them hop scotch to the final clue, which starts with him dramatically placing down $10, then upping it with another five and eventually a couple of ones. The employee is unimpressed, expecting at least $100, and he confesses that was all the cash he had on him. Sarah has to toss out a $100 bill, and Ryan is upset when the employee takes it ''and'' his $17.

* CompetitionFreak: Both Max and Annie get ''very'' competitive, to the point that their mutual competitiveness was part of what attracted them to each other. Brooks is also very competitive, but tends to take a more subtle and underhanded approach to it; as Annie notes at the beginning, everything he did on arriving at the first games night was intended to throw Max off-balance so that he could win. [[spoiler: And it's later revealed that the only way Brooks could ever beat Max was by cheating.]]

* DiggingYourselfDeeper: [[spoiler: After double crossing the Bulgarian in order to get more money, Brooks ends up torching Max's efforts to negotiate for the group's freedom. Max offers to give the Bulgarian the [=WitSec=] list Brooks cheated them out of completely free of charge, but Brooks decides to swallow it whole in a desperate effort to buy more time. The kicker in all of this is the Bulgarian was implied to have been willing to take them up on the offer too.]]

* EvilIsCool: Invoked in-universe; Brooks is charming, manipulative and unscrupulous [[spoiler: even before we learn he's a crook]], lives in a massive mansion, and all of Max's friends seem in awe of him. [[spoiler: Ultimately deconstructed, since Brooks hasn't accomplished anything without lying or cheating to get it and deep down knows that his seemingly awesome life is completely hollow, he's ultimately just a total loser, and Max -- the 'boring' brother who nevertheless has honestly earned everything he has -- is the better man.]]
* FailedAttemptAtDrama: Ryan tries to overcompensate for his ComicallySmallBribe to the "Murder We Wrote" employee by sliding each bill slowly across the table. When it gets to the point that he's sliding a dollar bill over a table at a painfully slow speed, Sarah finally bursts out that it doesn't matter ''how'' slowly his passes it over, it's the pathetic amount of money that's the problem.
* FamilyOfChoice: Towards the end, Max and Annie give their friends a chance to walk away from the matter, citing that it's a family affair and there's no reason for them to risk their lives for Max's brother. Their friends retort that they're all family and they're in this together.
* FightClubbing: Ryan insists, to ridicule from his friends, that this is a secret pastime of the ultra-wealthy. [[spoiler: It turns out that he’s absolutely correct]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: When confronted with the home intruders, Brooks puts up a surprisingly good fight for a man who claims to be a white collar financier. [[spoiler: It's a hint that he's actually less "financier" and more "criminal".]]

* GambitPileup: [[spoiler: Gary's plot to get back into the games night crashes into Brooks's plan to host a murder-mystery alternate-reality game, and the Bulgarian's plan to acquire the witness protection list utterly demolishes both of them.]]
* GameNightFight: Naturally, a constant occurrence as the competitive Max and Annie take their game nights very, very seriously. It gets very dramatic quickly when Max's brother Brooks appears to get kidnapped for real during their followup game night, and a lot of conflict ensues as they try to get him back.

** For that matter, while Kevin and Michelle have more tension throughout the film ultimately they're this as well. [[spoiler: Kevin acknowledges that while he is kind of jealous of Michelle's fling, he also played away during their brief separation and ultimately just wants her to be honest with him. Tellingly, when he discovers that the guy she had a fling with ''wasn't'' Denzel Washington, he is more amused by her mistake than anything else.]]

* HollywoodBoardGames: Annie and Max prefer to communicate by means of ''TabletopGame/{{Pictionary}}'' games, playing BoardGames a pastime they both enjoy and find relaxing. Sometimes, it's for important matters -- Max proposes to her by drawing a ring and Annie reveals to him that she's [[spoiler: pregnant]] by drawing a "bun in the oven". Other times, it's more casual things such as Gary's InUniverse TearJerker reaction to ''Film/TheGreenMile''.

* IdenticalStranger: Turns out that the celebrity Michelle slept with was [[spoiler: actually a man who looks like Creator/DenzelWashington.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Brooks is a smug, overbearing jerk who tends to belittle and humiliate Max [[spoiler: and turns out to be up to his neck in dodgy dealings]], but he does genuinely love his brother and is willing to go to great lengths to protect him. It's even eventually revealed that [[spoiler:he'd rigged his game in the first place to let Max win his expensive car.]] Downplayed with Annie, however. While she's never outright mean or rude to anyone, she's insanely competitive and intense during games and can be rather derisive about people she doesn't care for behind their backs, (though that only extends towards Brooks and Gary). However, Annie is ultimately a loving and supportive wife to Max and an excellent and protective friend. At the end of the movie, she even befriends Gary and Brooks.
* JugglingLoadedGuns: Max and Annie assume that Brooks's gun is AllPartOfTheShow and deliberately mishandle it for several scenes, believing that it's harmless. Annie even sticks the barrel in her mouth while posing for a photo. Ultimately they give it more respect when Max is accidentally shot by the gun.
* KarmaHoudini:
** [[spoiler: Brooks]] ends up with three years of house arrest when all is said and done, which is an awfully light price to pay for his illegal activities, especially after he reveals that he sold the [=WitSec=] list on the black market for $3 million. And then tipped the witnesses off, so they wouldn’t be in any danger... for $20,000 each.
** [[spoiler: Gary]] set up a majority of the night's events which included beating up Brooks, assaulting a real actor, emotionally tormenting the others, especially Max and Annie, and Max getting shot. At the end, [[spoiler:he's part of the group again]], with no ill will towards anything they were put through. In fairness though [[spoiler:he did get shot for real and severely injured shortly after his actions were revealed.]] Maybe they figured that was punishment enough.
** [[spoiler: Brooks's]] original kidnappers are this, since they had a deal to have some minor crimes overlooked if they helped out, and they are let go once it's done (although they do get bruised quite a bit).
* LetsSplitUpGang:

* MacGuffin: The plot is triggered by Max’s brother Brooks screwing a notorious crime lord known only as The Bulgarian out of a very expensive Faberge egg. When Brooks is kidnapped, Max sets out to recover the egg in exchange for his brother’s life. [[spoiler: The egg itself is actually a worthless fake. The real MacGuffin is hidden inside: a list of names and addresses of people in the Federal Witness Protection Program. Going further, the MacGuffin was actually an accident, since Gary set up the kidnapping with an extreme but mostly controlled situation for a completely different purpose, Brooks assumed the egg was the reason and their theft of the egg is what ended up inciting The Bulgarian to actually get involved.]]

** The movie opens with Max and Annie meeting at a bar trivia contest, the leaders of their respective teams, and they answer [[BirdsOfAFeather the same question at the same time]]. It even gives a close-up of their faces as they meet eyes and get flustered. A quick montage shows them playing other games and eventually Max proposing to Annie via a charades game, the title appears at their wedding (with VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution behind them). It is {{Book End}}ed with [[spoiler: Annie doing a ''Pictionary'' game outlining "Bun in the Oven" as her way of telling Max she was pregnant. It even gives a similar close up of their faces as they smile at each other]].
** The end-credits cut scene also involves [[spoiler: Kevin, the guy Michelle mistook for Denzel Washington, and Gary's ex-wife Debbie]] having one of these.

* MoodWhiplash: In-universe; after being confronted by a {{Mook}} only to then see him sent him flying through a jet plane's turbine engine, Annie initially reacts with gleeful triumph only to suddenly remember that she's just witnessed a man's actual horrible death and that this isn't an appropriate reaction: "Oh no! He died!"
* NoSocialSkills: Gary has a very stoic, unblinking and unemotive way of acting that unsettles pretty much everyone.

* PragmaticVillainy: The Bulgarian [[spoiler: doesn't kill anyone he doesn't need to. He neutralizes Gary (an armed police officer) via a shoulder shot and a knockout, and is perfectly willing to let everyone except Brooks go once he gets the [=WitSec=] list, since none of them were trying to screw him over. [[RuleOfFunny This makes it all the funnier when]] he decides that he would rather ''cut Brooks open inside a small jet during takeoff and dig through his guts'' rather than have to dissect his poop.]]

* RuthlessForeignGangsters: [[TheDreaded The Bulgarian]], who is said to have a hand in everything from heroin trafficking to sex slavery. [[spoiler: {{Subverted}}; he’s played by the very American Michael C. Hall with no accent, Slavic or otherwise.]]
* SayingTooMuch: During the "Never Have I Ever" drinking game, Michelle absently takes a sip of her drink when Ryan suggests "sleeping with a celebrity" as a category. Everyone notices her action because she's been in a relationship with Kevin since they were teenagers and they had supposedly never slept with anyone but each other.

** Gary's StringTheory includes VHS cassettes of ''Film/{{Philadelphia}}'', ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' and ''Film/TheGreenMile'', which he watched in preparation for [[spoiler: his own death scene.]] Gary also tries tries to convey ''The Green Mile'' in a ''Pictionary'' game where he just draws his crying face, feeling that this reaction would be enough to be understood.
** Kevin compares [[spoiler: the fight club]] to ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' and ''Film/EyesWideShut''.

* StringTheory: The CreativeClosingCredits feature Gary's basement which details [[spoiler: his plan to get back into game night.]]
* SuccessfulSiblingSyndrome: Much of Max's stress stems from being second fiddle to his older brother Brooks. Max has a decent successful life with a beautiful loving wife, but it's peanuts compared to Brooks's jet-setting life as a successful venture capitalist, that nets him enough money to buy (or give away) Max's dream car on a whim. Brooks even beats him every time they play a board, card or party game. [[spoiler: {{Subverted}}; Max learns during the adventure that all of Brooks's gains are ill-gotten and criminal - the secret of his success is to cheat like hell. Brooks actually looks up to Max because even though his life is not as flashy compared to his, he came by it '''honestly'''.]]
* TurbineBlender: A {{mook}} holds Annie at gunpoint right next to a private jet plane. The turbine turns on and the mook gets sucked in it complete with some CGI gore out the other end.

* WimpFight: Played with, as the initial kidnapping of Brooks plays out as a very desperate and sloppy scramble and, surprisingly, Brooks puts up a reasonable fight against two attackers. This actually makes some sense as it shows Brooks is prepared for dangerous situations and [[spoiler: the kidnappers were not high-end professionals, but petty crooks Gary recruited]].

Max Davis (Bateman) and his wife Annie ([=McAdams=]) are a HappilyMarried suburban couple with a mutual love of competition, which has led them to host a long-standing game night with other couples at their home. Unfortunately, Max and Annie are [[LawOfInverseFertility having trouble conceiving]], which their doctor attributes to stress, due in no small part to the sudden arrival in town of Max’s [[BigBrotherBully overbearing]], [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter one-upping]] brother Brooks (Chandler). Brooks crashes game night and invites his brother’s group over to his own house the following week for a game night that he promises will “raise the stakes.” Annie encourages Max to attend and beat Brooks at his own game, as a means of getting over his mental block.

When the big night arrives, Brooks reveals that the game is going to be a murder mystery. As armed men barge in and drag Brooks away, Max and his friends initially think it’s AllPartOfTheShow; turns out it’s a very real abduction, and Max will have to solve the mystery fast if he doesn’t want to turn it into a murder.

* AffablyEvil: The Bulgarian does have a long list of crimes including murder, torture, and human trafficking, but he’s very polite when confronting the players and seems willing to let them walk away unharmed, until [[spoiler: Brooks [[EatTheEvidence eats the]] MacGuffin. Even then, he only kidnaps Brooks and leaves the rest alone. He also neutralizes Gary (an armed police officer) by simply shooting him in the shoulder and knocking him out instead of killing him.]]

** Initially played straight: An “FBI agent” enters the house and sets up the mystery, when two very real armed thugs burst in and attack both him and Brooks before abducting the latter. These thugs aren’t the mystery company’s actors, but Max and the rest of the party guests assume they are and that the abduction is scripted.
** {{Inverted}} when the fake kidnappers arrive, brandishing prop guns. They’re initially mistaken for real assailants but quickly break character when they realize something has gone awry. When Max and Annie rescue Brooks and find out the gun was real they finally realize that it was not a game. This marks a turning point in the story where they don’t dismiss what is going on.
** {{Subverted}} later on, when it turns out [[spoiler: the abduction and subsequent chase ''was'' part of the show— Max’s neighbor Gary hijacked Brooks’s game to find his way back into the weekly game night. The thugs are real felons, but Gary convinced them to add some realism to the game, including his own fake death by gunshot.]]
** ''Then'' it’s DoubleSubverted: [[spoiler: Gary actually didn’t know anything about the MacGuffin that Brooks cheated The Bulgarian out of; when he shows up and shoots Gary, the players initially assume it’s yet another plot twist. It isn’t, and The Bulgarian kidnaps Brooks for real.]]
** Finally {{parodied}} by the film’s end: [[spoiler: Max declares that he’s ready to have kids with Annie and accept the responsibility of being a father, to which Brooks leans in and tells them that he engineered the ''entire night’s events,'' including millions of dollars’ worth of property damage and at least one death, to teach his brother the lessons he needed to learn. As Annie and Max stare in shocked silence, Brooks tells the unconscious Bulgarian to get up and break character; he doesn’t, and Brooks admits after a {{beat}} that he’s [[ItAmusedMe just fucking with his brother.]]]]
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: A lot of Max's stress stems from the fact that Brooks manages to effortlessly outdo him at everything. [[spoiler: Although it's ultimately subverted, as it turns out that the only reason Brooks manages to constantly win is through cheating, and his absurd wealth is due to VERY illegal activities. He also admits that all his lies about being a stock broker and venture capitalist is due to jealousy that Max actually went to college, has a legitimate job and is HappilyMarried. In Brooks's mind, ''Max'' is Always Someone Better because while his successes are more modest, he came by them honestly and has a much more stable and happy life]].

* TheStinger: This film also has a brief scene at the very end of the credits involving another appearance of "Not Denzel".

* HollywoodBoardGames: Annie and Max prefer to communicate by means of ''TabletopGame/{{Pictionary}}'' games, playing BoardGames a pastime they both enjoy and find relaxing. Sometimes, it's for important matters -- Max proposes to her by drawing a ring and Annie reveals to him that she's [[spoiler: pregnant]] by drawing a "bun in the oven". Other times, it's more casual things such as Max's InUniverse TearJerker reaction to ''Film/TheGreenMile''.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gamenight.jpg]]

''Game Night'' is an 2018 American BlackComedy with some mystery and thriller elements, directed by Creator/JohnFrancisDaley and Jonathan Goldstein and written by Mark Perez.

Max Davis (Creator/JasonBateman) and his wife Annie (Creator/RachelMcAdams) are a HappilyMarried suburban couple with a mutual love of competition, which has led them to host a long-running couples’ game night at their home. Unfortunately, Max and Annie are [[LawOfInverseFertility having trouble conceiving]], which their doctor attributes to stress, due in no small part to the sudden arrival of Max’s [[BigBrotherBully overbearing]], [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter one-upping]] brother Brooks in town. Brooks crashes game night and invites his brother’s group over to his house the following week for a game night that he promises will “raise the stakes.” Annie encourages Max to attend and beat Brooks at his own game as a means of getting over his mental block.

** Chelsea Peretti plays the head of the acting agency that stages the roleplay games.

** The opening montage includes Max and Annie meeting at a game night and smiling broadly into the camera at each other. Then Max proposes to Ann through a game of Pictionary. In the end, [[spoiler:Annie reveals that she's pregnant through a game of Pictionary, and Max and Ann smile broadly at each other into the camera]].

** The movie opens with Max and Annie meeting at a bar trivia contest, the leaders of their respective teams, and they answer [[BirdsOfAFeather the same question at the same time]]. It even gives a close-up of their faces as they meet eyes and get flustered. A quick montage shows them playing other games and eventually Max proposing to Annie via a charades game, the title appears at their wedding (with VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution behind them). It is {{Book End}}ed with [[spoiler: Annie doing a Pictionary game outlining "Bun in the Oven" as her way of telling Max she was pregnant. It even gives a similar close up of their faces as they smile at each other]].

** Gary's StringTheory includes VHS cassettes of ''Film/{{Philadelphia}}'', ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' and ''Film/TheGreenMile'', which he watched in preparation for [[spoiler: his own death scene.]] Gary also tries tries to convey ''The Green Mile'' in a Pictionary game where he just draws his crying face, feeling that this reaction would be enough to be understood.

** {{Inverted}} when the fake kidnappers arrive, brandishing prop guns. They’re initially mistaken for real assailants but quickly break character when they realize something has gone awry. When Max and Annie rescue Brooks and find out the gun was real they finally realize that it was not a game. This marks a turning point in the story where they not not dismiss what is going on.

* UnfortunateImplications: Discussed in-universe. The head of the murder-mystery game agency remarks that before Sarah and Ryan came to see her, she'd been playing the victim at another murder-mystery party. Since she's visibly pregnant, Sarah and Ryan remark in astonishment at what kind of murder mystery game would have a pregnant woman be the victim. The woman clarifies that it wasn't in-character and she just happens to be pregnant, meaning that an otherwise standard murder-mystery plot apparently took on some much darker overtones as a result.

** [[spoiler: Brooks's]] original kidnappers are this, since they had a deal to have some minor crimes overlooked if they helped out, and they are let go once it's done.

* EveryOneHasStandards: Annie initially isn't very fond of Brooks, given that [[SiblingRivalry Brooks constantly undermines Max at practically any opportunity]] and she blames Brooks for stressing Max out causing them to have [[LawOfInverseFertility conceiving problems]]. However, when Annie catches on that Brooks is in severe danger and being held for ransom [[spoiler:though the first time was a sham conceived by Gary to include him in their game nights]], she is '''clearly''' terrified and worried for Brooks' safety, and rather than encouraging Max to leave him for dead, fully dedicates herself to save him. The same can be said about Annie in regards to Gary. Moments after his introduction and Max asks why they don't invite him to game nights, Annie says that Debbie, Gary's ex-wife, was their friend and that Gary was just the [[NoSocialSkills "creepy]] husband that [[TheFriendNobodyLikes we had to put up with".]] Although after Gary got shot in the chest area, [[spoiler:once again the first time was part of Gary's plot, the second time was real, though he thankfully lived]] Annie was horrified at what happened and even [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone tearfully apologized to Gary for shunning him and saying he was their friend.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: When confronted with the home intruders, Brooks puts up a surprisingly good fight for a man who claims to be a white collar financier. [[spoiler: It's a hint that he's actually less 'financier' and more 'criminal'.]]