L'enfant de ma soeur: A strange little mess of a film

Is this thing worth your time?

Honestly, only if you are the kind of person who digs through bargain bins of early French cinema just to see what kind of weird stuff pops up. It's not a masterpiece, and it's not trying to be. If you get bored by people talking in rooms about money, skip it. If you want to see Antonin Artaud in a role that feels miles away from his usual intense theater stuff, maybe peek at it.

The whole premise is just an excuse for a series of misunderstandings. Valerian is broke. His uncle is rich. Naturally, he wants the cash. You know the drill. It feels less like a structured story and more like a bunch of theater actors trying to make a movie work on a shoestring budget.

The Napoleon character is a trip. Watching him pretend to be a doctor of law is the kind of low-stakes deception that feels quaint now. There’s a specific scene where he’s trying to look smart with his fake credentials that goes on way too long. It’s almost painful, but then he catches a look that made me laugh out loud. It’s that kind of movie.

I couldn't help but think about how different this is from something like The College Boob, where the chaos feels way more intentional. Here, the chaos feels like it might just be the result of a tight schedule and some tired actors. Some of the background extras look like they’re just waiting for the lunch bell to ring. I kept watching their eyes in the wide shots. They are definitely somewhere else.

The pacing is all over the place. You get a nice, snappy bit of dialogue, and then the movie just stops dead for a minute. It’s like the editor got distracted or fell asleep. It doesn't hurt the movie, exactly, but it makes the whole thing feel strangely hollow. It’s a very specific kind of emptiness.

Seeing Artaud show up is the biggest draw, obviously. He brings a weird energy that doesn't quite fit with the rest of the lighthearted nonsense. It’s like putting a moody, brooding painting in the middle of a brightly lit room. It’s distracting, but in a way that kept me watching.

• The sets feel like they’ve been reused from five other films.
• The dialogue is mostly just people shouting their plans at each other.
• I’m still not sure if the uncle is actually supposed to be a villain or just a guy who’s tired of his family.

It’s not as polished as The Kid from Spain, and it lacks that film's weird, manic energy. But there’s something about the lack of polish that feels honest. It’s a messy little relic. Sometimes that's enough for a Tuesday night when you've already seen everything else. 🎥