Vincent Elbaz
Damien
Overview
The chauvinist Damien wakes up in a world where women and men have their roles reversed in society, and everything is dominated by women.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
5 min readThe World Turned Upside Down (And Why It Feels So Uncomfortable)
I’ve seen this trick before—the gender-flipped world, the smug protagonist who gets his comeuppance by living in the shoes of the oppressed. It’s a familiar setup, one that Freaky Friday did for generations, and one that I Am Not an Easy Man leans into with the confidence of a film that knows its premise is its strongest asset. But here’s the thing: the trick only works if the mirror it holds up feels less like a funhouse reflection and more like a magnifying glass.
And for the first half of Eléonore Pourriat’s film, that’s exactly what it is. The discomfort isn’t just in the reversal; it’s in how specific the reversal is. This isn’t a vague, utopian matriarchy where women wear pants and men wear skirts (though they do).
It’s a world where the casual, insidious mechanics of sexism are laid bare in ways that feel eerily, painfully familiar—just with the genders swapped.
Damien (Vincent Elbaz) is the kind of man who would’ve been at home in a 1950s ad for whiskey and misogyny. He catcalls women on the street, interrupts them in meetings, and treats his girlfriend like a decorative accessory. Then, after a drunken night, he wakes up in a Paris where women hold all the power: they’re the CEOs, the politicians, the ones who wolf-whistle at men in tight jeans.
The film’s early scenes are a masterclass in small, stinging details. A female boss pats Damien’s ass in the elevator. A group of women at a bar laugh as they rate men’s bodies.
A job interview turns into a discussion of whether Damien plans to have children (and how that might interfere with his work). It’s all so plausible that it’s unsettling. The film doesn’t need to exaggerate; it just needs to flip the script, and suddenly, the absurdity of everyday sexism becomes impossible to ignore.
Audience Opinions
Broad evidence
Audience 6.8/10
"A clever gender-swap comedy with sharp social commentary, though uneven execution leaves some wanting more depth."
A chauvinist waking up in a matriarchal society is a fresh take on gender dynamics, praised for its humor and thought-provoking moments. The execution can be heavy-handed, with pacing problems and thin side characters. Many admire its boldness but wish the storytelling matched the satire.
What viewers praise
- Fresh gender-swap premise The premise is praised as original and sparks discussion about social norms.
- Sharp social commentary Critiques gender roles and privilege through funny satire.
- Strong lead performance Vincent Elbaz brings depth and comic timing.
- Engaging humor Scenes flipping gender expectations are especially funny.
Common complaints
- Heavy-handed messaging The satire is on-the-nose and sometimes preachy.
- Pacing issues Stumbles in the middle.
- Underdeveloped side characters Supporting roles, including the female lead, lack depth.
- Uneven tone Comedy and drama don't always mesh.
Recommended for
Fans of social satire Gender dynamics explorers French comedy lovers Thought-provoking film seekers Vincent Elbaz admirers
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsNetflix found her in the comments. She wanted a series.
Eleonore Pourriat shot Oppressed Majority in 2010, an 11-minute short about a stay-at-home dad eating street harassment in a female-run France. The French upload sat at about 20, latestnetflix.com maintains,000 views for three years. She added English subtitles in 2014 and the New York Times counted nearly 8.5 million hits in less than a month. The Independent ran a feature. Netflix messaged her on a social network. That is the origin story of I Am Not an Easy Man, the first French-language film the streamer commissioned.,,,
She asked for a series. Netflix wanted a 98-minute romantic comedy. Producers Eleonore Dailly and Edouard de Lachomette closed it. Slate quoted her saying the streamer left her free on casting and script, with check-ins during the shoot. Penelope Pourriat shot it. Fred Avril wrote the score. Je ne suis pas un homme facile landed on 13 April 2018 in 190 countries. Wikipedia lists it as the second French-language Netflix original after Blockbuster, and the first one the company actually ordered. French media-window rules kept it out of cinemas so it could go online at once. Pourriat told Hindustan Times that locking streaming films out of Cannes was ridiculous. She also told Allocine the movie makes ordinary sexism visible, the kind people walk past.,,,,
Vincent Elbaz plays Damien, a Paris app guy who catcalls two women, walks into a Pere-Lachaise street sign, and wakes up on the wrong side of every habit he had. Les Inrocks listed the flipped details: men waxing, dyeing their hair, covering their heads, buying deodorant towels for briefs. He loses the job fast. Marie-Sophie Ferdane is Alexandra Lamour, the novelist who treats men the way Damien treated women. Pourriat told Slate she wrote Alexandra for Ferdane and called her the greatest actress of her generation. RTL printed the line. Pierre Benezit, the lead of the short, came back as Christophe. Blanche Gardin is Sybille. Pourriat even plays Damien's shrink. Le Figaro's Etienne Sorin called it an uneven comedy that burns the concept into sketches and still lands after #MeToo and #BalanceTonPorc.,,,
Eight years later Netflix remade its own original. Ladies First, directed by Thea Sharrock, put Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike in the Elbaz and Ferdane parts and dropped on 22 May 2026. Dailly and de Lachomette stayed on as producers. Variety called the remake dated on arrival. The French cut is still the one that started as a YouTube file.,,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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