SCREEN | 'You People' – Jonah Hill Comes to Dinner on Netflix

"Do you just come up here for our food and women?"

Khalabo Ink Society / Strong Baby

Black-ish creator Kenya Barris directs comedian Jonah Hill (also co-writer/producer) in the mismatched interracial romantic comedy riff on the Guess Who's Coming to Dinner formula with shades of Meet the Parents. You People is a refreshingly amusing take on contemporary racial tensions while injecting hot topic elements of our current social climate.

Co-starring a killer cast supported by Eddie Murphy and Nia Long as the Black Muslim parents of Hill's no-nonsense girlfriend (Lauren London), the film is a series of comical setups based on the well-worn black/white racial tensions. Hill's reluctant yet blunt manner of trying to win over his skeptical hopeful in-laws while constantly running up against his own meddlesome parents, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and David Duchovny as polar opposites in affluent west coast liberal Jews, only heightens how the more different we are, the more we are the same.

Barris' trademark sitcom penchant for highlighting the undervalued contributions of African-American culture while mocking the faux-liberalism of clueless upper-class whites continues to never not be funny while adding a conscious element of longheld anti-semitism in the Black community. Hill and Barris's script of constant culture clashes lets the parent characters shine throughout with Murphy and Louis-Dreyfus delivering biting dialogue at every turn.

There's so much awkwardly cringey true-to-life humour mined from clearly very real situations. Hill's specific sense of Los Angeles comedy mixed with Barris' lengthy experience pitting well-meaning but flawed characters of various races and backgrounds against each other make for a searing comical effort that largely adheres to stardard rom-com conventions.

You People will be available to stream on Netflix starting January 27th.


More |YVArcade / Indiewire / Slashfilm