Some comedies like to be so overtly funny to the point where it feels like they are hitting you over the head with jokes and comedic situations until you fall out of your chair laughing. Employee of the Month is not one of those movies. The French comedy tells the story of an undervalued and undercompensated secretary and a reluctant intern as they fall into a comedy of errors resulting in a bloody mess in their office.
Employee of the Month begins with a playful tone while focusing on the real-world problem of sexism in the workplace. That message remains at the heart of this movie throughout, even as the events around that message unravel into complete chaos.
Make no mistake though, even with that very serious issue at its core, this is absolutely a comedy. It’s a dark comedy, but a comedy nonetheless. There are several laugh out loud moments but they are delivered in such a dry way that it almost adds a level of awkwardness that, in turn, makes you laugh even harder. That dry humor is mirrored with some truly wacky situations that, in a lot of other films, are typically played out in a goofy, over-the-top fashion. Here though, they are delivered in deadpan and it makes them even funnier.
And all of those laughs are due in large part to the performances of Jasmina Douieb and Laetitia Mampaka, who play Ines and Melody, respectively. Both of these actresses deliver on this dry, deadpan concept perfectly while displaying incredible chemistry with each other. They hardly ever crack a smile themselves but they continuously knock ‘em dead, literally.
The rest of the cast is perfect as well. Alex Vizorek, Peter Van Den Begin and Laurence Bibot deliver as some of those oppressive co-workers who you instantly hate, but not so much that you can’t laugh at them. They continuously hit on that cringey humor that sets Douieb up for her hilarious reactions.
Overall, Employee of the Month is just a good time. It’s a dark comedy with subtitles, so it’s certainly not going to appeal to the largest audience, but there is certainly a niche out there for it. It almost feels like if Office Space starred women and was created by Blumhouse. If that sounds like something you might enjoy, you should definitely check out this film.