The ITV psychological thriller drama boasts a star-studded cast and concluded on Monday evening
Tensions were high as The Party concluded on Monday evening.
The ITV political thriller is adapted from Elizabeth Day’s bestselling novel and written for the screen by Sarah Solemani, who also stars. Made up of five episodes, The Party also stars Luke Evans as Martin Gilmour, a working-class boy who wins a scholarship to an elite boarding school and forges a lifelong bond with the wealthy, charismatic Ben Fitzmaurice, played by Tom Cullen.
Years on, and married, Martin attends Ben’s lavish birthday party as Ben weighs a run for the Conservative leadership, and fears the attendant publicity could expose secrets from their past, with tragic consequences.
The twisty story moves between the party itself, a police investigation and flashbacks to the pair’s earlier lives. It was revealed that the pair had been involved in a car crash when they were teenagers, which killed Ben’s twin sister.
While Ben was behind the wheel, three times over the limit, Martin took the fall after being coerced by Ben’s father, Lord George Fitzmaurice (Douglas Hodge), resulting in a huge payoff each year. Although this happened decades ago, the tragic event was the catalyst for the shooting, as a journalist revealed she knew the truth and was about to expose Ben after he had shared his plans to run as the next conservative leader.
In the final episode, Martin pulled a gun on Ben as he accused him of ruining his childhood and leaving him broken as an adult. In the end, Ben talked his friend down and took the gun off of him, although after admitting he always loved him, he shot himself in the head.
Ben’s wife, Serena (Lydia Leonard), heard the gunshot and saw Martin holding the gun, which he took from Ben when he fell to the floor. She believed Martin had shot her husband and told the police.
Ben didn’t die, and Martin was arrested before being later released by the police. However, a police detective was adamant that they wanted to investigate the historical car crash further. Martin realised that the time had come to walk away and put some distance between himself and the Fitzmaurice family. After visiting Ben at the hospital, he left and began facing the world with fresh purpose.
As he walked through the park, he saw a male couple with a newborn baby in the park, a smile played around his lips, as though he’d had a glimpse of the happiness that could be his at some point in the future.
Despite the gripping final episode being full of twists and turns, The Party viewers were left questioning the “abrupt” ending and accused the drama of leaving the plot “incomplete”.
Taking to X, one viewer fumed: “Is that it? What a waste of my time… #TheParty”, while a second agreed: “What a waste of 5 nights #theparty.”
A third asked: “#theparty is that it?”, while another chimed in: “What a **** ending. So many unanswered questions and loose ends #TheParty.”
“#TheParty the night went on for weeks and now it’s getting wrapped up quicker than Poirot says no no mon ami !”, joked another
The Party is available to stream on ITVX





