Yannick

During a Parisian theatre's performance of the cheap crowd-pleaser Le Cocu, Yannick stands up and abruptly seizes the night. He interrupts the stage, demanding control over the evening and reshaping what happens next. The interruption triggers a clash between performers, crew, and the audience, turning a routine curtain call into a test of nerve and improvisation. As the play spills into its own backstage reality, the line between fiction and life blurs, and the room becomes a pressure cooker of egos and hidden motives. Dupieux blends dark humor with suspense as characters react to this bold disruption without tipping into melodrama. Every exchange tightens the tension as backstage alliances and motives surface. The scene keeps viewers guessing about future consequences.

Directed by Quentin Dupieux, Yannick is drawn from a screenplay by Dupieux and collaborators, featuring Raphaël Quenard in the title role alongside Pio Marmaït and Blanche Gardin. The film arrived in 2023 and channels Dupieux's humor in a theatre-set mood.

Worldwide, Yannick grossed about 3.5 million dollars, reflecting a modest yet steady theatrical presence in French markets and international playdates. The film found audiences through word of mouth and Dupieux's following, especially among fans of offbeat cinema and critics alike.

Critics noted Dupieux's offbeat tone and the way the film turns a simple interruption into a playful meditation on stage life. The movie sparked conversations about control, performance, and the porous boundary between audience and performer. Some reviews highlighted how the ensemble navigates timing and tension without overacting and subtlety.

Critics praise its restrained humor and precise pacing as it probes power dynamics, the ethics of interruption, and the tension between illusion and reality. The film keeps the premise taut and leaves the audience with lasting questions about control and perception long after the lights go down in theatres everywhere.