Meeting the parents of your significant other can be fraught with potential for awkwardness and embarrassment. It has been a prime source of comedy (and some drama) for movies and TV series for years – just witness the longevity of the ‘Meet the Parents’ franchise, which squeezed three movies out of the basic idea.
Looking to push the awkwardness factor even further––and adding extra layers of race and religion to the mix––are ‘Black-ish’ creator Kenya Barris and Jonah Hill, who wrote the script for ‘You People’. The new Netflix comedy movie has a first teaser online.
The setup here is your basic modern meet-cute: Ezra Cohen (Hill) accidentally gets into Amira Mohammed’s (Lauren London) car one day, mistakenly convinced that she’s his rideshare. Once she’s gotten over the shock and accepts his offer of a date, the two quickly bond over a shared love of sneakers and music.
(L to R) Eddie Murphy and Jonah Hill in 'You People.' Photo: Parrish Lewis/Netflix © 2023.
Soon, it’s clear that they’ve finally found that special someone. So special, in fact, that it’s time to think about merging their families. Enter Ezra’s progressive and semi-woke Jewish parents (Julia Louis-Dreyfus and David Duchovny) and Amira’s unyielding yet concerned Muslim parents (Eddie Murphy and Nia Long).
The one thing they have in common? The ability to mercilessly interfere with their children’s lives—with hilarious results.
London, who plays Amira, talked up the character. “She’s a laid-back LA girl. Very chill, goes with the flow, very stylish, very easygoing. Someone I would want to be friends with.”
And she was also impressed with the cast and director. “These collaborators are masters at their craft,” London says. “You have Eddie Murphy and Julia and Nia Long and David Duchovny and Jonah Hill—and Kenya as the captain of the ship. Everyone brought in their specialness and their art.”
(L to R) Sam Jay, Director-Writer-Producer Kenya Barris and Jonah Hill on the set of 'You People.' Photo: Parrish Lewis/Netflix © 2023.
Barris, of course, is no stranger to comedy of this type––he built the ‘Black-ish’ empire on cultural misunderstandings and how certain issues affected family dynamics. Hill, meanwhile, has been at the core of some great comedies about awkwardness, including ‘Knocked Up’ and ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’. And he’s been increasingly moving behind the camera, making his directorial debut with ‘Mid90s’ and following that up with recent Netflix arrival ‘Stutz’, a documentary about therapist Phil Stutz, who he credits with helping him through some difficult times.
Plus, to have the sheer comedic power of Eddie Murphy––who has been on a real resurgence of late–– gives that little extra something to the film. We’ll have to wait and see how this one fits into the canon of awkward family movies, but that cast and creators bodes well.
The ensemble for the movie also includes Sam Jay, Elliott Gould, Travis Bennett, Molly Gordon, Rhea Perlman, Deon Cole, Andrea Savage, Mike Epps, Emily Arlook, Alani La La Anthony and Bryan Greenberg.
‘You People’ will be on Netflix on January 27th.
(L to R) David Duchovny, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jonah Hill, Lauren London, Eddie Murphy, and Nia Long 'You People.' Photo: Parrish Lewis/Netflix © 2023.
(L to R) Eddie Murphy, Lauren London, and Travis Bennet in 'You People.' Photo: Parrish Lewis/Netflix © 2023.
(L to R) Eddie Murphy and Nia Long in 'You People.' Photo: Tyler Adams/Netflix © 2023.
(L to R) Jonah Hill, and Lauren London in 'You People.' Photo: Parrish Lewis/Netflix © 2023.
(L to R) Jonah Hill and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in 'You People.' Photo: Parrish Lewis/Netflix © 2023.
(L to R) Jonah Hill and Sam Jay in 'You People.' Photo: Parrish Lewis/Netflix © 2023.
