The Dinner Trivia Quiz

Answer: Brothers

The story begins with two couples meeting at a fancy restaurant in Amsterdam. Laid back couple Paul and Claire are hesitant to attend, especially since the restaurant was the choice of Paul's brother, Serge, and his wife Babette, both of whom are a part of the city's social elite due to Serge's role in local politics. From the get-go, they expect things will go downhill. Serge and Babette arrive at the restaurant late to a rather odd amount of fanfare from the staff and when they sit at the table, something seems off with both of them.

Answer: Wine tasting

The appetizer course turns out to be slightly uncomfortable as the four around the table exchange nothing more than pleasantries. Paul in particular tries to distance himself from his brother by pointing out faults in a recent movie they all saw and choosing a dish that no one else has selected from the menu (ending up with a goat cheese selection he never would've chosen otherwise).

At one point, he recalls Serge's odd fondness for wine, a hobby Babette always made fun of because of his trips to the Loire Valley for lessons.

The wine serving turns out to be a folly in itself.

Answer: Dordogne

In his mind, Paul recalls the time that he, Claire, and his son, Michel, had to stop at Serge's French summer home in Dordogne on the way through to a vacation in Spain. The three-day stop was not really in their travel plans, but they felt obligated. The visit turns out to be abysmal. While Serge and Babette's friends continuously claim to be 'As happy as God in France', Paul and Claire constantly look for ways out. The party here is also attended by Serge's autistic daughter, Valerie, and two sons, Rick (who's the same age as Michel) and Beau, their adopted boy from Burkina Faso. The stressful party ends with the boys being hauled back to the property by angered French locals.

During their appetizers, the four discuss racial tensions in film before Paul makes his way to the bathroom. When he returns he finds Babette crying; Claire has to follow her out to make sure she's okay. When they leave, Serge blames it on menopause and informs his brother that they need to have a serious talk about their sons.

Answer: Michel's

Paul leaves the table in time for Serge to have an impromptu photo op with a young girl and her father and he decides to have a small search for the ladies as the main course begins to arrive. He does find them outside and they head back to the table, but Paul decides to wait out when he finds his son's cell in his pocket, ringing. Oddly, Claire's face is on the phone-- it turns out to be Michel calling from the home number-- and he decides to meet with his father to retrieve the device. Waiting outside, Paul is compelled to pry into his son's phone, discovering a call and message from 'Faso' (a nickname used for Beau), a video of Michel, Beau, and Rick assaulting a homeless man, and a message from Claire from earlier that day, telling her son not to inform Paul of what he's going to do. Michel arrives soon after, and Paul has to make a quick lie to prevent his boy from knowing what he's done.

Answer: In an ATM vestibule

The real concern was actually far worse than the video on Michel's phone led Paul to believe. Shortly after the incident occurred, Michel and Rick were found on camera footage and shown on TV. As Paul would discover, the boys (without Beau, as he had biked off) headed to an ATM to withdraw money for a local bar.

Inside the cubicle they found a homeless woman and, disgusted with her presence (and a bit drunk) they grew garbage at her, escalating to furniture and other items. After throwing in an empty fuel canister, one of the boys tossed in his lit lighter, accidentally igniting the woman. Paul knew the child was his from the moment he saw the footage and, he presumed, it was why they were all set up for dinner.

After the incident, Paul suggested to Michel that they put it out of their minds; hopefully it would blow over.

Answer: True

But would it blow over? Paul watched the video even more online, discovering that the boys did, in fact, return to the scene to look at the woman's body. The footage, captured on Michel's phone, would make an appearance in one of the YouTube videos online, a video that Michel would admit was posted later on by Faso in an attempt to blackmail the other two.

Claire phones Paul from inside to say that the main course is nearly done. When she finds out that Michel is outside, she rushes out. As it turns out, she doesn't know about the videos. She does know, however, about what happened in the ATM. She knew that night when Michel called her looking for help.

Answer: History teacher

As Michel departs, Paul can't help but recall some distressing moments from his own past. While working as a history teacher he made some comments that offended some of the students and their parents, prompting a meeting with his principal and, ultimately, his leave of absence (which has stretched for ten years). During this time he was asked to have regular appointments with the school's psychiatrist and take the proper medication to get him better. Soon after, when Claire was in the hospital for an illness gone wrong, he struggled to make things okay for his son and himself. Babette and Serge, concerned with their well-being, came by to take Michel off his hands for a while.

After a series of frustrating events, Paul smashed Serge in the face with a burning pan, sending him to the hospital.

Answer: He's resigning from his presidential campaign

The dessert course arrives and when the dishes are brought to the table, Babette asserts that she doesn't want hers (nor does she ever want to return to the restaurant again). She and Serge get into a small fight as she begins, once again, to cry. After a bit of shuffling around they get to the heart of the matter. Serge lays it out-- he thinks that what their boys did was straight-up murder; Claire tries to protect the kids. Serge says that Rick is obviously torn apart about the matter and, to make things better, he's willing to throw in the towel on his race for presidency. Babette is furious with this, having just learned about it in the car on the ride over.

He claims he's able to do it to protect his son, but Claire says that moving past it is fine enough; dropping out will only mean worse things for all of their kids.

Answer: Capital punishment

Serge gets up to take a call while Claire makes a point of calling Michel at a particular moment, asking Babette on several occasions for the exact time. Paul quickly realizes that she has something planned that he is not aware about-- the call is just an act. The digestifs arrive soon after; Paul and Claire have a coffee and a grappa.

Paul recalls a time not too long ago when Michel had to write an essay on capital punishment and the two both discussed their views on the matter. Shortly after, Paul got into an altercation with Michel's school principal over the paper, culminating into what Paul remembers as a very physical ordeal.
Serge and Babette leave for a nearby cafe, the very location where Serge plans to announce his resignation the following day. When Paul and Claire discover Babette's phone under a napkin, they find that Beau is trying to call her. Paul, they decide, has to stop Serge in some way, but they both realize that it won't prevent him from doing anything. Further, with Paul off his medication, he'd be in grave trouble if the police got involved. Claire must take the reins on this one.

Answer: No

Claire finally tells Paul her plan: their son needs to be safe. She says that Michel and Rick are out with Beau, elsewhere, and the calls were their alibi. Babette can attest to the exact time the call was made, having said it so many times. While Claire heads to the cafe to stop Serge, Paul collects the bill and tosses Babette's phone off the bridge nearby.

The ambulance arrives soon after. Claire injures Serge with a broken wine glass, scarring his face. Babette heads with him to the hospital while Claire is taken to the police station. Paul, meanwhile, heads home to meet with his son.

Beau goes missing shortly after and, several months later, Serge loses the election.