racial prejudice is at the party

THE OPINION OF THE “WORLD” – WE CAN AVOID

While the first part of What the hell have we done? (2014) focused on the inter-community quarrels unleashed within the Verneuil family by the presence of four sons-in-law of diverse origins and faiths, the second part corrected the situation and calmed the atmosphere. In effect, What else have we done to God? (2019) reconciled everyone around the very chauvinistic idea that no other country could claim to compete, in terms of easy living, with France.

Back to square one with this third part, which takes up the springs that made the first huge success (more than 12 million admissions in France against 6 million for the second). By disembarking the parents of the four sons-in-law, What the hell have we all done? rekindles disputes and their share of good old racist reflexes. Inevitably, so many differences brought together, far from creating wealth, multiply the problems.

Stereotypes, resentment and bad faith

Since the four girls and their respective husbands settled in Chinon, in Indre-et-Loire, the birthplace of their parents, Claude and Marie Verneuil (Christian Clavier and Chantal Lauby), life has been humming. At least as long as everyone stays at home and the apples from the garden of David (the Sephardic Jewish son-in-law, played by Ary Abittan) do not fall on the parsley grown in the adjoining garden of Rachid (the Muslim Arab son-in-law played by Medi Sadoun) . Case which will escalate to the point that the first will end up building a wall of separation between the two properties. We will have understood the geopolitical allusion. There will be others.

To restart the machine, the director of the film, Philippe de Chauveron, and his co-screenwriter, Guy Laurent, had the idea of ​​​​a party likely to bring together a wider audience. Or the 40 years of marriage of Claude and Marie, an anniversary which provides their daughters with the opportunity to bring from China, Algeria, Israel and the Ivory Coast the respective parents of Chao (Frédéric Chau), Rachid , David and Charles (Noom Diawara). The cohabitation thus multiplied brings its reinforcement of stereotypes, resentment, confrontations and bad faith. Enough to create a mess, but a mess that is running out of steam by going around in circles and using the same ingredients. And, in the end, no longer makes you laugh at all.