At the Movies: Iris and the Men… Why You Should See This Movie With Laure Kalemi?

What is it about?

A wonderful husband, two perfect daughters, a successful dental practice: everything is going well for Iris. But since when did he not love her? Maybe it’s time to get a girlfriend. By signing up for a regular dating app, Iris opens Pandora’s Box. The men are about to fall… like it’s raining!

4 years after the successful release of Antoinette dans les Cévennes, the tandem Laure Calamy (actress) – Caroline Vignal (writer and director) is reforming for a new film, in cinemas this Wednesday, January 3, 2024.

Lor Kalam is the heroine of Iris and the Men, the third feature film directed by Caroline Winall. with Antoinette at SevenReleased in the context of a disaster for the cinema, this comedy of the sun (and the animal, with the irresistible donkey Patrick!) defied all predictions and established itself as one of the successes of the year: an excellent press rating of 4 out of 5, 800,000 admissions (the 8th biggest French success of 2020 ) and César to end the extraordinary career of this film!

3 good reasons to quit!

1 / A refreshing tone, with a lor pen as sparkling as ever

For their reunion, the actor and the filmmaker change scenery. Scenes of Parisian life replaced the greenery of the Cevennes. However, innovation and humor are always at the heart of this sparkling and fashionable comedy. If Laure Kalam is an actress you like to follow, you’ll definitely love this new role tailored for her. He reveals himself to be free, daring, funny. The scene at the table around the “yes” and “enjoy” is one of the film’s strongest scenes, summing up the slightly irreverent side of the theme.

2 / Spicy and well-documented story

Iris and the Men is about romantic encounters and sex, but with a starting point that changes from many comedies. A starting point that may disturb some because it involves adultery: Lor Kalam tries to cheat on her husband in order to revive his libido.

But it is this twist on the meeting theme that gives the film its singularity and gives it a somewhat topical and spicy point of view. On our mic, Caroline Vinyall explains what she had in mind:

“So many movies have been made about love, so many stories about desire, that the only way to do something interesting about these themes even today is to start with the most unique and the most intimate. Otherwise, we’re just repeating what we’ve seen in a billion movies. With this movie in particular, that was really what I was interested in: a move towards life!“

and added: “What I like most about the film are the intimate scenes between the character played by Laure Kalam and the men she meets. I feel like I haven’t seen them in a movie, or at least not in a long time. I remember saying to myself at one point during filming: I feel like I’m shooting a movie from the 70s, because we’re in such a reactionary era that it’s something that we don’t show in cinema to the general public anymore. (…) And if it bothers some people a little, so much the better, because that’s what we’re looking for in cinema. I don’t care about going to a tap with lukewarm water. There’s no shortage of lukewarm tap water, so if we can get a little something to cheer us up every now and then, that’s not a bad thing.“

Listen to our podcast interview with Caroline Vignal:

3 / Vincent Elbaz’s charm and delicious supporting roles

Casting around Lor Kalam explodes, starting with Vincent Elbaz, whose charm works. He plays Iris’ distant and cheating husband. We’re also reminded of the score by Suzanne de Buck, who plays Nuria, an assistant to Iris’s character in her dental office. And as in Antoinette dans les Cévennes, Caroline Vinal had the good idea to play supporting roles or appearances from actors or actresses who are sometimes less known, but whose casting choices perfectly match their character.

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Iris and the Men is currently in theaters.