The last couple of years have been somewhat tumultuous ones for director Roman Polanski, who was placed under house arrest in Switzerland in 2009 to await U.S. extradition, and then eventually freed again in 2010. In many ways this court battle overshadowed the release of his latest film The Ghost Writer, but nevertheless it ended up earning strong reviews and many critics counted it among the best of the year. Now, less than two years later, Polanski is back with something a little different and a little bit unexpected: a dark comedy called Carnage starring Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly.

Based on the French play Le Dieu du Carnage (God of Carnage) by Yasmina Reza, the story revolves around two couples who decide to meet up after their 11-year-old sons get into a fight with each other at school. The entire play takes place at the house of one of the couples, and throughout the evening they end up bickering with each other and getting into ridiculous arguments. As with most movies adapted from plays, it is almost entirely dependent on the dialogue and the performances, but I have to say that it looks promising. The play was also adapted for Broadway in 2009 with Jeff Daniels, James Gandolfini, Hope Davis, and Marcia Gay Harden all starring (and getting Tony nominations for it). Polanski’s Carnage will premiere at the Venice Film Festival next month and hits select theatres in the U.S. on December 16th. Check out the trailer after the jump and see what you think.