Call My Agent! The Movie Review: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Call My Agent! The Movie is a rare TV-to-film spinoff that genuinely works, putting Andrea and Noemie at the center of a chaotic new project while bringing back every fan favorite face. It sags a little in the middle but hits its stride by the finish.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Platform: Netflix
Genre: Comedy
Language: French
Director: Emilie Noblet
Cast: Camille Cottin, Laure Calamy, Thibault de Montalembert
Beloved TV shows rarely make the jump to film without losing something along the way, but Call My Agent! The Movie manages to pull it off.
The original French series, a fast paced office comedy set inside a boutique Parisian talent agency, was already a hit at home when it launched back in 2015, and its move to Netflix helped it find an even bigger international audience, eventually inspiring remakes across Europe and Asia.
Since then, several members of the original cast have gone on to become genuine stars in their own right, especially Camille Cottin and Laure Calamy, and this sequel, set five years after the series ended, smartly puts both of them at the center of the story.
Like most great sitcoms, the original series always understood that failure tends to make for better storytelling than easy success, and that instinct carries over nicely here. When the show ended, the team at talent agency ASK had scattered off into new careers, effectively breaking up the group.
Five years later, the film finds a clever way to bring everyone back together, this time working on Andrea and Noemie’s new film project, which gives the title Call My Agent! The Movie a nice double meaning.
Mathias, the agency’s smooth, silver fox veteran, is now running a smaller agency alongside his daughter Camille, while he and his former secretary-turned-partner Noemie are finally, officially together.
Noemie, always the natural organizer of the group, has become a producer with her own hit TV show that looks suspiciously a lot like Call My Agent! itself. Through a series of backfiring schemes on Mathias’s part, Noemie ends up producing the very first feature film written and directed by their old colleague Andrea, setting the entire plot into motion.
Real-life stars Laetitia Casta and Vincent Macaigne play the leads of this film within the film, with Macaigne’s character represented by ASK alumnus Gabriel, who had previously left to work as the token nice guy at a cutthroat rival agency.
Andrea, meanwhile, has split from her girlfriend and co-parent Colette, adding a custody battle subplot that injects a bit of real drama into the otherwise chaotic comedy. Longtime fan favorites Arlette and Hervé also return to round out the ensemble, though Arlette is somewhat underused until the film’s final stretch.
The writing team behind the film does a great job keeping a steady stream of industry insider jokes flowing throughout, without ever letting the film tip into feeling smug or overly pleased with itself. There is a noticeable dip in energy through the middle section, but once Andrea’s film actually begins shooting and a wave of on-set disasters starts piling up, the comedy fully finds its rhythm again.
For viewers who loved the original series, this sequel delivers exactly the kind of chaotic, star studded fun that made the show so beloved in the first place, and it does so without feeling like a cash grab riding on nostalgia alone.
If you’re looking for something else to watch this week on Netflix, the new Hindi family comedy Chumbak, from the creators of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai and Khichdi, is also worth keeping an eye on, and you can check its release date and details here. Call My Agent! The Movie is now streaming on Netflix.