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The Closet

The Closet

Comedy · 2001

A man spreads the rumor of his fake homosexuality with the aid of his neighbor, to prevent his imminent firing at his work.

Movie details

The Closet

“Sometimes to save your skin, you have to come out of the closet... or go in!”

2001 Comedy 1h 24m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

A man spreads the rumor of his fake homosexuality with the aid of his neighbor, to prevent his imminent firing at his work.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Closet?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

French Tech

French Tech

Comedy · 2021

Down-on-his-luck, unemployed Alexandre has two months to prove to his wife he can take care of his two young kids and be financially independent. Now, the thing is, although The Box, a user-friendly startup, wants to hire him on pro- bation, the company’s slogan is “No kids!” and Séverine, his future boss, is a short-tempered “killer”. So if Alexandre wants to land the job, he’s bound to lie... Will his meeting with Arcimboldo, an “entrepreneur of himself” and the king of online odd jobs, help the brave, disoriented Alexandre overcome all those challenges?

The Discord

The Discord

Comedy · 1978

Guillaume has made it: A machine that can clean dirty air by simply sucking all dirt into air balloons and then shipping them far far away so his explanation. Some Japanese business guys, after dinner with a lot of alcohol, order 5,000 pieces. His only problem: His production capacity is way to small so he gets to produce the machines in his private house. His wife Bernadette is far from being happy about it. Her private life goes down the line so she decides to leave Guillaume and to finally have revenge she candidates for major against her husband...

Alter Ego

Alter Ego

Comedy · 2026

Alex, a quiet forty-something, leads an ordinary life until new neighbours move in. The husband is Alex’s perfect lookalike… except for one thing: he has hair. Alex sinks into a growing paranoia as he becomes preoccupied with this more charismatic, brilliant and accomplished mysterious double.

Me, Myself and Mum

Me, Myself and Mum

Comedy · 2013

How to become a man when your mother and your closed circle have decided otherwise? This is the challenge Guillaume took up. The film recounts Guillaume's tragicomic battle from the young age of eight, as he adopts the role of a girl then of a homosexual... until, aged 30, he meets the woman who, after his mother, will become the other woman in his life. Beyond this story of a heterosexual coming-out, the film tells the tale of an actor who never stopped loving women, maybe even a little too much.

LOL 2.0: Anne’s Golden Hour

LOL 2.0: Anne’s Golden Hour

Comedy · 2026

At 55, Anne is finally enjoying her freedom after her children leave home. But everything changes when her 23-year-old daughter, Louise, moves back in with her after a professional and romantic failure. And to make matters worse, her son, Théo, announces that she's going to be a grandmother! Anne realizes that life never goes as planned and that, at any age, we are still learning to grow up.

Heartbeat

Heartbeat

Comedy · 1938

A pompous grocer’s assistant in Marseille annoys a visiting film crew so much that they prank him with a phony acting contract; believing it to be real, the “schpountz” heads to Paris for his new career.

What a Drag

What a Drag

Comedy · 1996

A closeted gay man's attempt to "act straight" for the sake of his job has unexpected consequences.

Serial (Bad) Weddings 2

Serial (Bad) Weddings 2

Comedy · 2019

Claude and Marie Verneuil face a new crisis. The four spouses of their daughters, David, Rachid, Chao and Charles decided to leave France for various reasons. Here they are imagining their lives elsewhere.

Santa Claus Is a Stinker

Santa Claus Is a Stinker

Comedy · 1982

Two neurotics, working for a suicide hotline on the night of Christmas Eve, get caught up in a catastrophe when a pregnant woman, her abusive boyfriend, and a cross-dresser visit their office.

Monkey Business

Monkey Business

Comedy · 1952

Research chemist Barnaby Fulton works on a fountain of youth pill for a chemical company. One of the labs chimps gets loose in the laboratory and mixes chemicals, but then pours the mix into the water cooler. When trying one of his own samples, washed down with water from the cooler, Fulton begins to act just like a twenty-year-old and believes his potion is working. Soon his wife and boss are also behaving like children.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Francis Veber

Written by

Francis Veber

Daniel Auteuil

Daniel Auteuil

François Pignon

Gérard Depardieu

Gérard Depardieu

Félix Santini

Thierry Lhermitte

Thierry Lhermitte

Guillaume, the Director of Public Relations

Michèle Laroque

Michèle Laroque

Miss Bertrand

Michel Aumont

Michel Aumont

Belone, le voisin de Pignon

Jean Rochefort

Jean Rochefort

Kopel, le directeur de l'usine

Alexandra Vandernoot

Alexandra Vandernoot

Christine

Court is in session

Put The Closet on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.