Philippe Abrams is a man with a plan and no sense of timing. He wants to move his wife Julie from the sunny south of France to a seaside town on the Riviera. What he gets instead is Bergues, a cold, remote town in the far north of France, after he is caught scamming an inspector to secure the transfer. That’s the setup for “Welcome to the Sticks,” and it’s a premise built on a simple idea: the farther north you go, the less familiar the world becomes.
Kad Merad plays Philippe, a charming but clumsy post office administrator whose attempt to cheat the system lands him in exile. Dany Boon directs and also stars as Antoine Bailleul, the local postman who takes Philippe in for his first night. The film treats the move as a punishment, and the contrast between the sunny south and the rainy north is its engine.
The comedy comes from the cultural gap between Philippe and the locals, who speak a dialect called “ch’ti.” Philippe initially dislikes Antoine, thinking him gay because of pictures of him crossdressing. That changes once Philippe learns Antoine worked at a carnival doing impressions of everyone and has a secret crush on Annabelle, a worker at the post office. The two become best friends.
The film is a comedy about belonging, but it leans heavily on broad physical humor and repetition. Philippe’s attempts to fit in — eating strong-smelling Maroilles cheese, talking to locals, playing the carillon at the bell tower, drinking beer — are repeated across the runtime. The warmth of the reception from the locals, who invite him to drink and play with them, is sincere, but the film’s method of comedy can feel thin.
| Element | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Premise | Original and funny | Thin on actual character development |
| Humor | Physical, crowd-pleasing | Repeated jokes wear thin |
| Cast chemistry | Kad Merad and Dany Boon | One-dimensional supporting characters |
| Setting | Distinct contrast between south and north | Overly simplistic portrait of northern France |
The film’s weakness is its handling of its own premise. Philippe’s wife Julie and his son Raphaël are barely present beyond their roles in the story. The film is about Philippe learning to love Bergues, but it never fully explores why he wanted to leave in the first place.
“Welcome to the Sticks” is a film about finding a home in the wrong place. It works best when it trusts its own setup and lets the characters breathe. When it repeats itself, it loses its edge. The film is a big hit in France, but the joke wears thin before the credits roll.
Trailer, via Pathe UK.
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