You People – Movie Review
Director: Kenya Barris
Writer: Kenya Barris, Jonah Hill (Screenplay)
Cast
- Jonah Hill (Superbad)
- Lauren London (I Love You Beth Cooper)
- Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cops)
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Black Panther Wakanda Forever)
- Sam Jay
Plot: Follows a new couple and their families, who find themselves examining modern love and family dynamics amidst clashing cultures, societal expectations and generational differences.
Runtime: 1 Hour 57 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: You People starts as we meet Jewish man Ezra (Hill), who works in finance, with dreams of hosting his podcast going big. His parents Shelley (Louis-Dreyfus) and Arnold (Duchovny) are constantly pushing him to achieve more in his life. elsewhere, black Muslim Amira (London) has been struggling in love, always facing pressure from her father Akbar (Murphy) to only date within their race and religion.
When the two randomly meet, they start to fall in love. The problem comes when they need to meet the parents. Leading to them needing to break down their beliefs to accept other cultures. This sees Erza and Amira needing to spend time with each other parents to become welcome to the family.
Verdict on You People
You People is a romantic comedy following two people from different cultural backgrounds that fall in love. They are happy to accept their own differences, but getting approval and acceptance from each other parents becomes difficult. We follow how they try to fix their problems so they can have a happy life together.
This movie looks to bring the ‘Meet the Parents’ formula to bigger cultural differences. It brings tone-deaf characters who don’t understand the problems the other cultures have been through. This gets to dive into how much children will go through if parents don’t understand the things they are going through.
The performances in the movie are great though, Jonah Hill handles the serious side of everything well, even if his jokes can feel forced. Lauren London is wonderful too, with her character biting her tongue throughout the film. Eddie Murphy brings a calm performance one we have needed to see from him to prove he could still be a major player in comedies.
Where to Watch: You People is available on Netflix Now.
Final Thoughts – You People is a more culturally impactful Meet the Parents.