This review was made possible due to an advance copy of You People provided by Netflix for review. You People streams on Netflix from January 27.
In Kenya Barris’ film directorial debut, You People is a romantic comedy starring Jonah Hill as Ezra Cohen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as his mother, Shelley Cohen, David Duchovny as his father, Arnold Cohen, Lauren London as Amira Mohammed, Eddie Murphy as her father, Akbar Mohammed, and Nia Long as her mother, Fatima Mohammed. The story centers around Ezra and Amira’s relationship after a meet-cute when Ezra mistakenly believes Amira is his Uber driver. Although their love is strong, their relationship is challenged by their parent’s behavior and beliefs.
What Do You Mean, “You People?”
If there’s one thing this film did correctly, it was the title capturing the spirit of the movie perfectly. A family who tries too hard to be inclusive to the point of being offensive and a family who excludes anyone who isn’t like them, You People starts off great. Unfortunately, it quickly goes downhill.
After we see Ezra and Amira establish their relationship, it gets to a point where it’s time to meet the families. Ezra meets Amira’s parents without her and it’s…painful. Ezra tries too hard to relate to her parents and their culture while her parents, or more accurately, her father, decides that he does not like Ezra. He is a white, Jewish man whom Akbar believes has nothing in common with his daughter. The meeting is awkward, which I suspect was the goal. This is then followed by Ezra taking Amira to meet his parents. They’re overly friendly but also completely tone-deaf, especially Shelley. She tries hard to relate to Amira by bringing up police brutality, at which point Ezra has to drag her into the kitchen. Shelley believes she’s doing nothing wrong and he’s overreacting.
These first meetings are fine, they’re funny, but in an uncomfortable sort of way. It doesn’t go over my head that this was the point because these kinds of families aren’t necessarily uncommon. Unfortunately, the movie uses these tropes and scenarios over and over again only in different settings, until it becomes too much for Ezra and Amira’s relationship to bear. I couldn’t really enjoy the film because I was suffering from secondhand embarrassment the entire time, cringing at what one of the parents would say or do next.
Acceptance and Understanding
I don’t disagree with the point that You People tries to make. That everyone comes from a different background and despite these differences, there are ways to come together, even if it’s difficult. Unfortunately, the film spells it out for you so you can’t even come to that conclusion yourself. It instead hits you over the head several times until you get it.
Without spoiling, I will say that I did like the ending. I thought it was cute and a relief after being stressed for the entire movie. They even went a step further than I was expecting so it was a nice little surprise. I did, however, find it to be a little too “kumbaya” for my liking but it wasn’t terrible. It brought the romantic comedy theme back to the film.
The entire cast did very well and Hill and London really made Ezra and Amira’s relationship believable. They don’t look like your typical couple on the surface but they made me feel the unconditional love between them. If only we could all find someone like that in our lives. Nia Long and David Duchovny eventually seem to fall to the wayside for their co-stars Eddie Murphy and Julia Louis-Dreyfus take center stage as the main antagonists. Murphy as Akbar is a more purposeful antagonist while Louis-Dreyfus Shelley is completely blinded by the fact that she is ruining her son’s relationship.
Final Thoughts
I wanted to like this film so much more than I did. The trailer had really sold it to me, but it ended up being difficult to watch. There are some feel-good moments but they’re scattered few and far in-between. I will say that it’s possible because I am not from a Jewish or Muslim or Black background, which maybe it affects my ability to enjoy the film because I can’t relate as well to the characters. I understand that You People may just not have been for me.
Check out the trailer for You People below:
