French Tech

Alexandre is unemployed and things with his wife are bad. He is given two months: in that time he will find work and show he can look after his two small children. He gets a trial post at a technology company. It is called The Box; everything runs through an application, the staff are watched constantly, and there is one rule: no children. Alexandre has to hide his. At the same time he is bad with his phone and does not understand how the company works. A man comes to his aid: Arcimboldo does every kind of job and understands nothing about technology. Bruno Podalydès writes and directs, and also appears. Denis Podalydès plays Alexandre; Sandrine Kiberlain is in the cast. It is a French production. The Podalydès brothers act together here, a pairing that recurs across the director's work. The film was in the 2020 Cannes selection; the festival could not be held that year because of the pandemic and it opened on 16 June 2021. The matter it treats is how business looks at middle age; an algorithm measures the worker and whoever decides is never seen. The humour is built on tools and objects; there are applications that do not work, strange designs and useless devices. The reaction that arrives at the end is not realistic and the narrative does that deliberately. Its limit is structure; the narrative moves loosely and some sections stand like sketches. Who it is for: viewers who like French comedy and satire of technology. Who it is not for: it is scattered, the humour quiet, and the social criticism soft.