“You People” Movie Review

 

 

“You People”

 

Movie Review

 

You People is a 2023 American romantic comedy film directed by Kenya Barris and co-written by Jonah Hill. Jonah Hill, Lauren London, David Duchovny, Nia Long, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Eddie Murphy star in the film. The plot revolves around an interracial couple and their families reactions to modern love in the face of cultural clashes, societal expectations, and generational differences.

Ezra Cohen, a thirty-five-year-old broker, and podcaster becomes involved with fashion designer Amira Mohammed in an unlikely relationship. The couple first meets when Amira, frustrated with her GPS navigation system, parks in front of Ezra's workplace. Ezra climbs into the car, mistaking Amira for his Uber driver, causing an awkward incident. Ezra makes amends for his blunder by later taking her out to lunch, and the two realize they have a mutual attraction despite their differences, as Ezra is white and Jewish, and Amira is black and Muslim.

 

Amira and Ezra eventually move in together, much to her father Akbar's chagrin, who prefers that his daughter date a Muslim. Ezra takes Amira to meet his family six months into their relationship. His parents, Shelley and Arnold, explain awkwardly that they accept and support everyone, including their LGBT daughter Liza. When Shelley starts talking about the BLM movement, an embarrassed Ezra walks her out of the room. He tells his mother that he intends to propose to Amira. Before he can propose, Ezra is persuaded to meet with Amira's parents by his friend and fellow podcast host Mo. Ezra visits Roscoe's Chicken N Waffles to speak with Akbar and his wife, Fatima. The meeting does not go well, as Akbar is suspicious of Ezra, particularly because he is a white man who hosts a podcast about African-American culture and opposes his desire to marry Amira. When Amira returns home, she informs Ezra that her mother informed her about their awkward meeting at Roscoe's. When Ezra begins to pull out a ring box, she urges him to proceed with the proposal, which he gladly accepts.

 

Ezra decides to leave his job at a brokerage firm in order to pursue his true passion, podcasting. Later, the couple invites both sets of parents over for dinner and to talk about wedding plans. Unsurprisingly, the dinner goes wrong, with the parents clashing over Farrahkhan's antisemitic views and Shelley accidentally setting Akbar's kufi on fire. To help ease tensions, Ezra and Amira schedule mutual one-on-one time with their future in-laws. Ezra spends the day with Akbar, but Akbar is constantly undermining Ezra's self-esteem, from criticizing Ezra's decision to leave finance for podcasting to bringing him to a barbershop where he fails to follow the dress code. Later, he takes Ezra to a basketball court in Inglewood, a predominantly Black neighborhood, and encourages him to participate in a pickup game. Akbar films Ezra with his phone in the hopes of humiliating him, but to his surprise, Ezra performs admirably in the game. Meanwhile, Shelley treats Amira to a spa day, but she continues to be clueless, making Amira uncomfortable, and blind to her own microaggressions.

 

Ezra and his friends travel to Las Vegas for his bachelor party, but his excitement is dampened when Akbar unexpectedly joins the boys. Akbar insists on accompanying the men on their big night of strip club partying. Later, he takes Ezra to a basketball court in Inglewood, a predominantly Black neighborhood, and encourages him to participate in a pickup game. Akbar films Ezra with his phone in the hopes of humiliating him, but to his surprise, Ezra performs admirably in the game. Meanwhile, Shelley treats Amira to a spa day, but she continues to be clueless, making Amira uncomfortable, and blind to her own microaggressions.

 

Ezra and his friends travel to Las Vegas for his bachelor party, but his excitement is dampened when Akbar unexpectedly joins the boys. Akbar insists on accompanying the men on their big night of strip club partying.  Ezra does not participate in the festivities because he is aware that Akbar is watching him, but his character is called into question again when his friends loudly reminisce about the obscene acts Ezra previously committed in Vegas. Shelley and Liza join Amira and her friends at her bachelorette party in Palm Springs. Shelley inadvertently makes a racist remark during a party game and accidentally rips off a guest's wig, adding to the night's embarrassment.

 

At the rehearsal dinner, both Ezra and Amira speak privately to Akbar and Shelley, with Ezra questioning Akbar's genuine love for Amira and Amira informing Shelley about her tone-deaf racial attitudes. Following their mutual discussions, Ezra and Amira realize that their union faces too many challenges. They call off their wedding and split up because they don't think they're right for each other. Three months later, Ezra delivers a poignant soliloquy on his podcast, arguing that no matter how hard they try, black and white people will never truly understand the other's experience. Shelley and Akbar both hear his speech and rethink their actions; Akbar is inspired to contact Shelley. Shelley and Akbar take Ezra and Amira to a trendy boutique under the guise of a shopping trip, where they both apologize for their actions. Ezra and Amira accept their apologies and enter the retail store, which has been set up for their wedding, complete with friends, family, and a rabbi and imam. Both Ezra and Amira's families celebrate their marriage.

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