DVD Review: Meet The Guilbys

Meet The Guilbys (the original title is Paris-Willouby) is a sweet, honest, and often moving film about a family that must travel together to a funeral. It stars Stéphane de Groodt as Maurice, a philosophy teacher who is told he will likely be transferred (there are too many philosophy teachers in Paris, you see), but who is worried about his wife’s reaction to having to move to Poitiers. Isabelle Carré plays Claire, his wife, who is concerned about the state of her marriage, aging and so on. They each have a teenage child from previous marriages, as well as a young daughter together. Joining them is Claire’s brother, Marc (Alex Lutz), an unemployed, broke writer who has stopped writing and who learns that his girlfriend is pregnant.

All of these people are living under one roof when we meet them, and are not communicating well with each other. Aminthe Audiard is adorable as Prune, the young daughter, who asks if she’ll have big breasts one day (and who later puts oranges in her shirt to see). She is particularly cute when she happily steals a plush cow from a convenience store. Alexandre (Solal Forte) is Claire’s son, and is clearly attracted to Lucie (Joséphine Japy), Maurice’s daughter, but has no idea how to broach that subject, or how to deal with his feelings. And of course Marc has troubles too, not just that his girlfriend is pregnant and wants to get a place with him, but that he has stopped writing. What’s nice is that though he is not writing, the film shows that he is still thinking creatively, as when he tells a story to Prune who had asked him about some lost cows.  It is a household of small squabbles and general lack of communication, but a phone call in the middle of the night forces them to band together in one slightly troubled vehicle for a day-long drive to the country.

And actually more troubles are hinted at with regards to the deceased. Prune asks about her grandfather, and we learn that he left his wife for a woman thirty years his junior, and that soon after that his wife died. Marc and Claire haven’t ever forgiven him for that, and apparently have not seen or spoken with him in the years since then. The discussion turns into a funny argument about dead pets. There is something of an age discrepancy between Maurice and Claire too, which plays into Claire’s worries.

Of course, by the end, Claire and Marc learn some surprising things about their father, and the family pulls together. I love films like this, with damaged characters who need to reach out to each other. They have the support system; they just need to realize it. No, the movie doesn’t break any new ground, but it doesn’t need to in order to be effective. The characters, and their relationships, feel true and real, and it’s not long before you come to like them and care about them. Plus, there is a nice, brief animated bit in the middle of the movie. And be sure to watch the end credits, for there is another short scene partway through them.

Meet The Guilbys was directed by Arthur Delaire and Quentin Reynaud, and was released on DVD on August 9, 2016 through First Run Features. The film is presented in its original French, with English subtitles. The DVD contains no special features.