The Parisian Bitch: Princess of hearts

Whether you enjoy this movie is largely a function of whether you like leading lady Camille Cottin's comedy-sketch series of the same name, in which she incarnates in slightly exaggerated form the archetypical snobbery and obnoxious bad feeling that do in fact reign in a certain loud part of the Parisian population. With her hidden camera she trolls unsuspecting pedestrians just going about their business, subjecting them to a concentrated dose of the exasperating whims of that archetype (but don't get too outraged: she does reveal the camera to them after the filming, and they mostly laugh). Some people just don't find that sort of thing funny.

The Canal+ series is a "top of the hour" filler with a few situationally-linked trollings over several minutes, which is about all anyone can handle of such one-liner standalones. As such, even a true fan instinctively approaches this 80-minute compilation of the same with some degree of skepticism. But if one goes in without expecting too much, one will be in for a pleasant surprise. For the writers actually managed to make, from a series of quick and largely imposed (though Cottin herself is clearly working from a general script/storyboard) hidden-camera sketches, a more or less coherent plot. It's not an especially captivating or complex story, but the feat of weaving a story in such a manner is fascinating enough to hold our attention.

Perhaps more impressively, in so doing, they managed to make this "connasse" (roughly translated as "stupid b****"), who truly lives up to that epithet, a marginally sympathetic character. She's obnoxious, clueless, self-centered and emotionally unstable. At the same time, she's energetic, smiley, optimistic and goal-oriented. It's a mix of defects and good qualities as recognizably human as anyone else's. It's probably not a mix we would ever see in real life, and knowing this, her character does run the limits of Uncanny Valley. But the filmmakers are aware of this, and that's part of the point, part of what makes it funny.

Overall I'd say it's worth a try. I'm not too sure about re-watch value, but try a few episodes of the Canal+ sketch and see if it tickles you. If so, and if you can suspend disbelief for about an hour and twenty minutes, this will be a nice little diversion.