Funny Games

George and Ann Farber, their son Georgie, and their dog Lucky arrive at the lake house for a quiet vacation. Fred, the next‑door neighbor, shows up with two men, Paul and Peter, who offer to help launch the boat but behave in a disturbingly casual way. The unsettling presence of the strangers unsettles the household from the start.

Peter visits to borrow eggs, drops them, and returns to apologize while pressing for more. Ann obliges, but Paul and Peter's insistence heightens the sense that something is wrong. George confronts them and slaps Paul, prompting Peter to injure George's knee with a golf club.

Paul directs Ann in a game of Hot and Cold to locate the dog Lucky, who has actually been killed with the golf club. The family becomes prisoners in their own home as the men tighten their grip. The ordinary vacation turns into a nightmare of control and fear.

Georgie is forced into a pillowcase with her head inside while the adults are stripped and subjected to humiliating acts. Paul injures Georgie during the process, showing how far the captors will go. The family remains trapped with no immediate hope of rescue.

Georgie, in a desperate bid to find help, runs to Fred's house and discovers bloodstained evidence of the carnage. Fred discovers the disturbing truth behind the strangers and the danger they pose. The neighbors' world begins to collapse as the threat encroaches on every corner.

Peter binds Ann and leaves her to watch over the Farbers while Paul searches for Georgie. Ann pleads to be released, but Peter dismisses her pleas, insisting that the games must go on. The mood grows heavier as hope fades and the captors tighten their control.

Georgie finds a shotgun in Fred's house, but the gun is empty. Paul returns it to Peter and reveals that two shells are missing, heightening the stakes. The lack of ammunition makes their chances of survival feel perilously thin.

The next round of the game begins, with the rule that whoever is counted out will be shot. Georgie panics and tries to flee, but Peter shoots and kills him, shattering the family’s remaining sense of safety. Paul berates Peter for his recklessness, and the two men exchange a tense plan to regroup.

George and Ann grieve their loss but resolve to survive. Ann manages to free herself and attempts to call for help, only to discover the phone is malfunctioning. She is recaptured by Peter and Paul, and the terror resumes inside the house.

Peter stabs George as the next round of games begins, and Ann faces a grim choice between a slow, painful death and a quick shotgun murder. While the moment of decision nears, Ann seizes a shotgun on the table and shoots Peter. Paul then grabs the remote and rewinds the scene to before Ann's kill, breaking the fourth wall and asserting control over the narrative.

With the do-over in effect, Paul and Peter kill George and carry Ann out to the family boat, binding and gagging her. They push her into the water to drown, and then march toward the next target, continuing their predatory games beyond the Farber home as the tension remains razor-sharp.

The killers knock on the Thompsons' door to request some eggs, and Paul glances at the camera with a smirk, implying that the violence will continue beyond the frame. The scene closes with a meta nod to the audience as the cruelty persists. The cycle of terror leaves the viewer unsettled and complicit by watching.