Last night was another chance to catch a movie a little before its release date thanks to Cineworld and the Unlimited Screening of Quentin Dupieux’s Smoking Causes Coughing, a movie that I had been looking forward to seeing for some time.
After a devastating battle against a diabolical turtle, a team of five heroes – known as the TOBACCO FORCE – is sent on a mandatory retreat to strengthen their decaying group morale. Their break goes wonderfully well until Lézardin, Emperor of Evil, decides to annihilate planet Earth… Will they repair their relationship in time for a final epic battle? From visionary director Quentin Dupieux (Rubber, Deerskin) comes an absurd and hilarious superhero movie unlike any other.
For those of you, that know of Dupieux’s work then you will no doubt expect Smoking Causes Coughing to be a little more unusual than your conventional movie. The movie kicks off with a group of superheroes that you could be described as the Z-list version of the Power Rangers, The Tabacco Force is battling an evil turtle, but watching from the hillside is a young boy who is a massive fan of the team.
Then we get the first of many WTF moments when we are treated to an over-the-top gore scene that not only has you laughing loudly but also slightly gagging at the same time!
The team’s Chief who is a bizarre-looking puppet rat with strange goo running from its mouth contacts them to head to their retreat to bond together.
Once at the retreat, the team get settled and then this is where the movie takes a bit of a turn as the team sits around the campfire telling scary stories, we are taken into the stories that are just as bizarre as the rest of the movie, such a woman that finds a helmet that gives her peace and a story told by a fish!
But all the bizarre moments of Smoking Causes Coughing just work brilliantly, I forgot after a while that I was watching a film in French with subtitles and just found myself being pulled into this strange story with stories intertwined to give us something very different.
Those of you that have seen Rubber will know how strange, bizarre and wonderfully creative Dupieux’s movies are and this movie is no exception, it’s one of the movies where you sit there a the beginning thinking, “What the heck am I watching“, but then shortly after you start to appreciate what you are being presented with and you just sit back and savour the remaining runtime, which is rather short at 1h 17mins.
Smoking Causes Coughing is a movie that is sadly getting a limited release, after seeing the movie last night I checked to see when it would be showing after its release date on Friday and was very disappointed that Cineworld is only showing it in Edinburgh and Glasgow venues.
This is a real shame as films such as this, although they may not be as popular as the big Hollywood movies, need to have more cinematic screenings for a chance for the smaller budget and avantgarde movies to be seen by more people and introduce them to more than big brash Hollywood movies.
Smoking Causes Coughing stars Alain Chabat, Gilles Lellouche, Anaïs Demoustier, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Vincent Lacoste, Benoît Poelvoorde, Blanche Gardin, Oulaya Amamra, Doria Tillier and Jean-Pascal Zadi. Directed by Quentin Dupieux.
I’m so glad I didn’t miss the Cineworld Unlimited Screening as the movie has a limited UK release, so if it is on at a cinema near you then check it out for something a little different.
Expect the unexpected in this bizarre movie
Movie title: Smoking Causes Coughing (Fumer fait tousser)
Movie description: A group of vigilantes called the "tobacco-forces" is falling apart. To rebuild team spirit, their leader suggests that they meet for a week-long retreat, before returning to save the world.
Date published: July 6, 2023
Country: UK
Duration: 1h 17m
Director(s): Quentin Dupieux
Actor(s): Alain Chabat, Gilles Lellouche, Anaïs Demoustier
Genre: Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Summary
Smoking Causes Coughing is certainly a movie that throws some unexpected moments at the viewer, but damn it makes you laugh out loud at its weirdness.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
