Faut pas lui dire (2017)
Directed by Solange Cicurel

Film Review

Half a decade after winning acclaim with her short film Einstein était un réfugié (2010), Solange Cicurel, a lawyer turned film director, returns with her first feature, Faut pas lui dire.  A lightweight Gallic version of Sex and the City, there's not much humour in this anodyne comedy, and the plot feels painfully second hand.  A lacklustre script is at least partly redeemed by the lively quartet of lead actresses, who are headed by Jenifer Bartoli (the first winner of the French reality television programme Star Academy) in her first major screen role.  It's a big letdown after Cicurel's innovative short and whilst some of the jokes hit home most look as if they have been recycled from other films.  For those who like dim girly comedies Faut pas lui dire may have some appeal, otherwise it's best to give it a wide berth.

Film Synopsis

Laura, Anouch, Eve and Yaël are four cousins who, in spite of their obvious differences, are devotedly attached to one another.  The one thing that they all have in common is their tendency to tell lies, although they of course only do this out of love.  As Eve comes to realise she can no longer tolerate her over-considerate husband David, Laura, a divorced mother, finds she has a new man in her life - the seductive Alain.  Anouch is happy leading the life of an uninhibited single woman, whilst Yaël gets ready to marry the man whom she is certain is her beau idéal, Maxime.  When his fiancée stops sleeping with him, Maxime begins to wonder whether by agreeing to marry Yaël he has made the right decision.  Laura is surprised when she sees Maxime going out with another woman.  Without delay, she arranges a conference with Anouch and Eve to decide what they should do.  They agree that the best option is not to tell Yaël that her future husband is already cheating on her...