Kad Merad and Michèle Laroque in a $100 Million Comedy – Catch It in Theaters!

What’s It About?

Patrick, a print shop worker, is a seasoned veteran in the battle against corporate bosses. He’s a respected union leader, a master of the strike picket line, championing worker solidarity and the fight against the excessively wealthy… But Patrick has just inherited one hundred million… For everyone – his wife Suzanne, their children, and even his coworkers – it’s the chance of a lifetime to transform their lives. Everyone except Patrick, that is. Now a multimillionaire unionist, he has no intention of altering his daily routine, let alone abandoning his principles…

100 Million Questions

What would you do if you suddenly inherited one hundred million euros? That’s the question facing characters played by Kad Merad and Michèle Laroque in this comedy, the first feature film directed by Nath Dumont after her work on series like Soda, En famille, or Demain nous appartient. In reality, the windfall is somewhat less than that, as fifty-five million must be deducted for inheritance taxes, but the dilemma remains the same.

Especially for someone like Patrick, a veteran in the fight against corporate control at the print shop where he works, who plans to change nothing about his daily life, while Suzanne would like to use this windfall to fulfill dreams she thought were behind her. Not to mention their two children: Lucas (Martin Karmann) with his eco-friendly battery project, and Amandine (Jade-Rose Parker), who is deeply involved in refugee aid. Throw in some in-laws who are less wealthy than expected and colleagues eager for a change in status, and you have the mix that makes up 100 Million!

After Monsieur Papa and Brillantissime, which already explored these themes in their own way, the third partnership of Kad Merad and Michèle Laroque also looks at the family and social circle of each character (both personal and professional) through the lens of money. Without encroaching on Ken Loach’s territory, this comedy adopts social overtones by contrasting individual convictions (especially Patrick’s) with the reality of a life turned upside down by money.

Between the opportunists lured by wealth, the contradictions of each character, and the disdain shown by those accustomed to luxury that Patrick and Suzanne meet, 100 Million! covers the entire spectrum of its subject through its subplots, perhaps too numerous, but allowing each viewer to see themselves in one situation or another, or to ponder what they would do in the characters’ shoes. A comedy that makes you think, at least a little.