The nouveau riche, the review: an exaggerated comedy against modern perfections

The review of The New Rich: at times trivial, incorrect and exaggerated, there is a romantic comedy on Netflix that you don’t expect. The protagonists are the irresistible Nassim Lyes and Zoé Marchal.

Let’s turn the perspectives around and, behind yet another grab and run title, there is a strange comedy that deserves a chance. It may be because of the exaggerated tone, it may be because he might not have hair on his stomach, and it may be because in an age of perfection, finding so many distortions all at once is a kind of breath of fresh air. We gave him a chance, and we were somewhat rewarded: The nouveau richeby Julien Royal, immersed in a Ultra-kitch Pariswe would call it an absurd comedy, if it weren’t for the fact that the protagonist’s absurdity is made credible by a couple of characters who, out there, are full of them.

After all, The nouveau richeto the detriment of a questionable titlefollows Royal’s previous – and ultra-dosed – film, The gonerswho had soon climbed the top 10 Netflix. And it arrives on Netflix New richwith pop colors and an exaggerated rhythm which, as written at the beginning of review, overturns the foundations of the grotesque and the romantic, uniting the two strands in a comedy that does not foresee landing plans, but runs (and runs) as long as there is petrol in the tank. In some ways, films like The nouveau riche they should be the touchstone for titles coming to streaming: nothing too memorable, but memorable enough to combine entertainment with originality in the same vision. With another reflection at the bottom: seeing him, The nouveau riche follows the tone of typical comédie française, without however getting stuck in the preconceptions of sketches and unexpected events typical of our productions.

The nouveau riche, the plot: chronic liars and cryptocurrencies

At the center of the plot of The New Rich is what we might call a loser. Youssef (Nassim Lyes) is a talkative liar, a social climber, a fraudulent individual who hits on everyone (and everyone) looking for something in return. He doesn’t have any money, but he poses as a great entrepreneur. Helping him are his blue eyes and sculpted physique, and a clever and convincing way of speaking.

A serial liar – even towards his supposed girlfriend -, Youssef is beaten at poker by unsavory individuals: when the situation becomes dangerous, he meets Stéphanie (Zoe Marchal, how good) a messy girl who deftly handles cryptocurrencies. For Youssef it could be the turning point. Between the sheets and the lies following each other (Stephanie is also a liar), the two could be useful to each other. Except that, in addition to the gangsters, there are also feelings involved.

An incorrect comedy against modern perfection

Nassim Lyes, made up as if he were Nusret Gökçe alias Salt Bae, maintains the tone and manages the game of a film that is tastefully bizarre in its idea, without the fear of exploiting the triviality and incorrectness as comic pretexts. The surprising success, then, comes from the skill of Nassim Lyes, who does not take herself seriously, and from the alchemy contrasted with Zoé Marchal, who does not care about appearing fascinating but who actually breaks the role of the femme fatale in favor of a greater naturalness, clearly optimal for a context that focuses on two technically repelling, but no less interesting characters.

After all, The nouveau riche it’s a kind of ‘other side’. It is the substance behind the appearance, it is defeat more than victory. It is a romantic comedy that eliminates dreams and imagination, and finds love in a messy room, between smelly socks and dirty dishes. This, more than anything, creates the right amused tone, proposing a tone designed for disengagement, without leaving aside the narrative component: by mixing everything up a bit, Julien Royal doesn’t save himself in the incorrectness and in language, and it is precisely the constant exaggeration, desired and underlined, that makes The New Rich an unexpected little comedy with a rude verve, and in some ways free to tell the most unspeakable sides of a society devoted to exhausting perfection.