Love “Les SEGPA”? Don’t Miss This New Hit Comedy Tailored for You!

What’s It About?

Sammy, a law student, balances his studies with his job as a pizza delivery guy. During one of his deliveries, Sammy is mistakenly arrested and charged with a robbery he didn’t commit. The mastermind behind this setup is Eddy Barra, a notorious robber known as “the bomber,” who happens to be Sammy’s doppelgänger.

Eddy crafted this scheme, using their resemblance to escape while leaving Sammy to take the fall for his crimes. In jail, Sammy is forced to adopt the persona of the robber to survive. With the help of Nada, a fellow inmate, Sammy sets out to prove his innocence and reclaim his identity.

Following the unexpected success of the comedies Les Segpa (over 700,000 viewers in France) and Les Segpa au ski (nearly 1.4 million viewers), both adaptations of the web series created by Hakim and Ichem Bougheraba in 2016, director Hakim Bougheraba returns with an adaptation of another successful web series: Under Lockdown.

Before the Film, the Web Series Under Lockdown

The series Under Lockdown was launched in April 2019 by Ichem Bougheraba (nicknamed Ichem Boogy) and Nicolas Delort. It quickly amassed a million subscribers on YouTube and nearly 150 million views. Thanks to this success and that of the previous films by the group, the project was naturally coveted for a film adaptation.

“We kept the characters, the universe, and the tone but avoided being too absurd so as not to undermine the dramatic stakes,” explains Hakim Bougheraba, who co-wrote with his brothers Ali, Ichem, and Redouane Bougheraba.

“We had a blast rewriting the story of one of the iconic characters of the web series, Johny, played by Brahim Bouhlel. You never know if he’s telling the truth or lying!”

In this film, which is likely to captivate teenage and young adult audiences during the school holidays and festivities, the ingredients of the group’s previous comedies are present: zany humor, a host of quirky characters, and plenty of twists.

“We wanted no limits in the production, the stunts, the fights,” continues Hakim Bougheraba. “We always make the movies we want to see, and we really wanted to create an action comedy in Marseille.”

Bernard Farcy Makes a Cameo, Nodding to the Taxi Saga

Under Lockdown draws inspiration from the Taxi films and includes a small homage to the series through the presence of one of its iconic characters: Bernard Farcy, who played Commissioner Gibert, dons the police uniform once again for the film.

“Since the Taxi films by Besson, there haven’t been many urban comedies that represent the city and make the city proud. That was our mission with Under Lockdown,” Hakim Bougheraba remarks in his director’s statement.

And he adds: “We’re big fans of Taxi. When writing the script with Ali and Ichem, we quickly envisioned Bernard Farcy in our film. We really wrote his character and his lines for him.

We sent him the script, he loved it. He appreciated the approach. Working with Bernard Farcy was a dream. He’s a legend, an icon, a monument in Marseille, and above all, a great actor.”

Ichem Bougheraba, Arriles Amrani, Redouane Bougheraba, Lucille Guillaume, and Brahim Bouhlel are among the cast.

Under Lockdown premieres this Wednesday, December 18th in cinemas.