Thirteen years after his first film, Coco, which drew almost 3 million spectators, Gad Elmaleh is back behind the camera. His new comedy, Reste un peu, hits cinemas on November 16, 2022.
Despite its huge commercial success, Coco was a critical flop and marked Gad Elmaleh's distancing from the cinema. In this second film, there are no absurd characters, no fat humor or grandiloquence, but an intimate subject and sober direction, even though the film remains a comedy.
It's a much more personal film for Gad Elmaleh, who plays the lead role, his own role, as a self-doubting Gad Elmaleh who wants to abandon Judaism for Catholicism. A decision that will anger his family. And who better to play his parents and sister than his real parents and sister? Judith, Régine and David Elmaleh are the surprise additions to the credits.
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Gad Elmaleh, who has been living in the United States for three years, returns to France without daring to admit to his family that he is doing so in order to convert to Catholicism. When Gad's parents, David and Régine, hear the news, it's a nightmare: their son couldn't have done any worse! Determined to bring Gad back to his Jewishness, they turn his conversion into a battlefield. But Gad manages to make them understand that his sincere love for the Virgin Mary doesn't call into question who he is or his love for them.
Our opinion
With Reste un peu, Gad Elmaleh continues his work of autofiction. After the series Huge en France (Netflix), which followed his adventures in the United States, the comedian evokes his return to France and his identity crisis. It's hard to say whether the pitch for this feature-length film is inspired by his own experiences, or whether it's entirely fictional, but the fact remains that this second production is a real UFO in the panorama of French comedy. Introspective, dramatic, rooted in reality and to be taken deeply at face value, it is nonetheless a fine, successful comedy, in which Gad Elmaleh manages to elicit hilarity with every punchline.
We've never known the comedian to be so deep and sensitive, and this film seems to mark a new turning point in his rich career. It's a call to question oneself, to constantly challenge oneself. Above all, it's a real lesson in humility, and a beautiful declaration of love to his parents, and to the Jewish community. We didn't expect Gad Elmaleh to be a touching character, but the balance between humor and drama is subtle. Above all, it's a film about faith, its origins, how it manifests itself and how we want to live it.
November 2023 cinema releases: list of films in theatres and opening times near you
Lovers of the 7th art have a lot to look forward to! And with good reason: the editors have unveiled the cinema releases for November 2023, and the program is as varied as ever. So much to discover for the whole family. Enjoy the show! [Read more]
November 2023 cinema releases: list of films in theatres and opening times near you
