“Stuck Together” is a French movie released on Netflix on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2021. Originally titled “8 Rue de l’Humanite,” or “8 Humanity Street,” the movie is about the members of an apartment complex in Paris, France drawing closer together during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
Throughout three months, seven families become closer than ever before. Filmed in French, the movie is dubbed in English and can be watched with English subtitles, though this does not diminish its quality, in my opinion.
The movie begins by showcasing the different families. Diego (Jorge Calvo) and his wife Paola live on the ground floor and are the caretakers of the building. Paola has been in the hospital for weeks with COVID-19 and Diego is concerned. Dr. Gabriel (Yvan Attal) is a scientist who runs a lab on the ground floor and is obsessed with developing a vaccine. This ends up driving him insane. Louise (Liliane Rovère) owns a bar on the ground floor and has become a motherly figure to others.
Claire (Laurence Arne), Martin (Dany Boon, also the film’s director), their daughter Louna (Rose de Kervenoaël), and dog Basile live on the first floor with a mysterious “North African” neighbor, who the residents feel is breaking the quarantine as she goes out every night. Claire is an attorney who can visit clients in jail and Martin constantly sprays hand sanitizer into his mouth, as he is germ obsessed and panic-ridden.
The second floor is occupied by Tony (François Damiens) and his children Basile (Milo Machado Graner) and Victoria (Milo Machado Graner). Tony is the only owner in the building and has a duplex which continues onto the third floor. It becomes clear throughout the movie that Tony is a racist, misogynistic man who drove away his far more reasonable wife. The second floor is also occupied by Samuel (Tom Leeb) and Agatha (Alison Wheeler). Samuel is a fitness coach who slowly gains more and more weight as the movie progresses and Agatha, a singer, is seven months pregnant.
Each family has issues they are internally fighting. Dr. Gabriel has gone mad trying to find more test subjects for his vaccine, eventually testing it on himself. Diego is at an emotional loss since his wife is in the hospital. Louise is worried her bar will go under due to the pandemic and begins to sell her late husband’s pear alcohol as hand sanitizer. Claire and Martin constantly fight as Martin is overly cautious and makes Claire sleep in the stairwell for multiple nights after she visits a client in prison. Tony is a crude man who needs everything to be about himself and belittles others due to his wife leaving him and his children.
“Stuck Together” was an entertaining movie with a lot of humor as these seven families try to navigate pandemic life. Throughout the movie the families learn to grow individually and change their attitude. As this growth happens, the seven families begin to spend more time together and improve the bleak courtyard. When sad or joyous events happen in the movie, they gather and support each other. Overall, I would recommend the movie to anyone who is looking for a lighthearted movie to watch with friends.
