Babysitting

Philippe Lacheau made his directing debut alongside Nicolas Benamou and wrote the script with Pierre Lacheau, Julien Arruti and Tarek Boudali, the last two also in the cast. It is the first feature by the troupe Canal+ made familiar. The story is built on found footage without being left entirely to it: police and parents watch the tape, the night opens up during that viewing, and the frame sits outside the recording. The method was still uncommon in French cinema then. The boss was first offered to Didier Bourdon, busy on another shoot, so the part went to Gérard Jugnot. Le Monde called the film a pale duplicate of recent American hits; Lacheau said in an interview that his script predated the film it was compared with and that he had spent two years seeking finance. It premiered on 16 January 2014 at the Alpe d’Huez comedy festival, taking both the special jury prize and the audience award. On the first day of the April release 75,748 people saw it in 405 cinemas, and by mid August it had 2,307,718 admissions. A sequel followed in 2015 and an Italian remake in 2016. A good fit if you want one evening’s order coming apart step by step. Not for a viewer who dislikes crude humour built on drink and humiliation.