14/03/2025 - Co-written by Baya Kasmi, Michel Leclerc’s new comedy starring Léa Drucker and Benjamin Lavernhe explores the post-#MeToo world with gleeful cheek

The 40th edition of the Love International Film Festival in Mons is closing with a screening of Michel Leclerc’s new film, Not All Men But.... Once again supported on the writing side by Baya Kasmi, the French filmmaker is back tackling a pressing societal subject, after notably exploring imposed identities in The Names of Love [+see also:
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film profile]. In this new opus, presented in a world premiere in the L’Alpe d’Huez Comedy Film Festival, he explores one the most pressing topics of our age with gleeful political incorrectness: what place is there for white, heterosexual men in a post-patriarchal – or at least post-@MeToo - society?

To answer this question, he calls upon two characters who actually bend genders themselves. Simone (Léa Drucker) is a police inspector and, in order to make space for herself in her profession, she’s adopted the codes of the patriarchy, bearing witness to real internalised sexism in both her private and professional life – it’s worth pointing out that she’s married to her boss. Her mission in life is to infiltrate The Harpies, a group of feminist activists whom she suspects of having helped a female domestic abuse victim kill her husband. Paul (Benjamin Lavernhe), meanwhile, is an actor, but he seems limited to walk-on parts. It leaves him time to look after his children, especially given that his wife is an actress herself, who’s enjoying a brilliant career. Paul is a deconstructed man who’s swotted up on another Simone (namely de Beauvoir), a man who claims to be gentle - an ally, in other words. So when Simone inadvertently accuses him of raping her to protect her cover vis-a-vis The Harpies, he’s surprised, to say the least.

As per usual, Michel Leclerc pushes the boundaries of comedy some distance, revelling in exploring its many iterations, whether police-based comedy, ensemble comedy, comedies of manners or societal comedy, taking delight in blending genres and bending genders with a cheeky yet affectionate approach. Sometimes it goes a little off-track, but the film is memorable for throwing caution to the wind when tackling tender subjects. To dare to incur people’s wrath is practically a virtue these days. So, yes, we laugh about Simone’s slightly low-brow police colleagues who proudly claim to belong to the old order – even though they feel the wind of change a’ blowing – but we also laugh at the feminist activists’ blunders and contradictions, even though the film leaves no doubt over the power and righteousness of their cause. The false accusation which becomes the crux of the story is carefully placed in context (it’s estimated that 2% of accusations are false but only 1% of rapists are convicted), because, ultimately, it’s the importance of words that counts. In fact, this accusation will actually prove a catalyst for change for Paul. More of an ensemble film than it seems, Michel Leclerc’s film sheds light on a male viewpoint on a female revolution, foregrounding the fear that this revolution arouses in men, without casting any ambiguity on Paul’s virtuous character. A group of masculinist fathers who try to rally him to their cause only entrenches his position: "I’d rather lose with the women than win with you".

Not All Men But... was produced by Agat Films & Cie/Ex Nihilo together with France 2 Cinéma. The film will be released in France on 16 April, courtesy of Le Pacte, and in Belgium on 23 April via Athena.

(Translated from French)