Image: Carole Bethuel
“Pretty Best Friends” is French cinema from 2011 that people can still rave about today. The directing duo Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache are now presenting their latest film, “Black Friday for Future”, the script of which was also written by the two of them.
However, anyone who thinks they are watching an elegantly rounded social satire like “Pretty Best Friends” should lower their expectations. While the encounter between wealthy Parisian wheelchair user Philippe (François Cluzet) and his carer Driss from the banlieue (Omar Sy) was based on a true story, “Black Friday for Future” lacks the feeling of experiencing something real at every turn. The story is over-constructed: Bruno (Jonathan Cohen) and Albert (Pio Marmaï) have succumbed to consumption and are heavily in debt. Chance and free chips and beer bring them into a group of climate activists. It is led by “Cactus”, the code name of the young woman, who is embodied by Noémie Merlant (“Tár”), a capable young star.
- The trailer for the film:
Then nothing works anymore
Albert wants her. This is as predictable as the collision and eventual merging of worlds; the stringing together of episodes seems disorienting. Many seem random, some funny, few touching. If rich and poor embraced each other in “Pretty Best Friends,” it was like a short-circuit between consumption and climate activism: a bright start, then nothing works anymore.
“Black Friday for Future”: F 2023, 120 min., now in cinemas
OÖN rating:
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: Nachrichten
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
