Matt is France’s most popular personal development coach. In a society searching for meaning, where individual success has become sacrosanct, he offers his followers a catharsis that electrifies the crowds just as much as it worries the authorities. Under fire from critics, Matt embarks on a headlong rush that will take him to the brink of madness and perhaps to glory…
Being a coach is all the rage! But they’re very often labelled as charlatans. Yes, it’s unsettling that people without a top-tier education can get away with giving lessons! And yet, some of them are effective. But all it takes is one bad experience or believing people who are constantly negative to start thinking like them.
This film shows what goes on behind the scenes. Obviously, these people are human and have their moments of fatigue, doubt and even depression. You have to be incredibly resilient to cope with the comments of the man in the street who feels free to say whatever pops into his head without even thinking. Or worse: just for the sheer pleasure of causing harm!
The world isn’t designed to help people; it doesn’t encourage them to succeed. The world is designed so that everyone stays in their little corner and doesn’t cause a stir!
We all have the names of famous coaches in mind. Names like Max and David in France, Tony in America, and so on. They’re all people who turn into showmen the moment they step onto the stage, just like musicians and other artists.
This feature film shows what comes before, during and after. Trauma, suicidal thoughts, and the fear of telling off a boss who doesn’t respect us are things that happen to everyone. To what extent should we hand over power to our superiors? Should we put our children first and remain a coward – someone who’ll fall ill with an incurable disease as soon as they retire?
Gourou makes you think, provided you’re open-minded and curious enough. If you’re just a rationalist, used to complaining and behaving like a thoroughly jaded victim, then this film won’t offer you much. It’ll simply leave you in your falsely comfortable bubble. After all, it’s so much easier to complain than to take action!
The family is far from being as sacred as people say. How many children’s bedrooms have been turned into torture chambers? Isn’t the family the very place where we learn about betrayal, pain, humiliation, torture, and physical and psychological violence? Nothing stops us from causing harm, torturing and deeply wounding our own flesh and blood…
It’s certainly tragic to see things that way! But isn’t becoming aware of this also a way of growing and moving forward? Suffering exists; there’s no getting round it, and Buddhists know this only too well. The question is: how can we live with it without letting it destroy us?
Normally, I’m not a fan of French cinema. But I adore Pierre Niney, and this film, carried by him, stands out as a tense thriller, captivated by performance, charismatic delivery and the collective need to believe in immediate solutions. I really enjoyed it!
Gourou is director Yann Gozlan’s seventh feature film. He clearly loves working with Niney! Together, they made Boîte Noire (2021), as well as one of my favourite French films, Un homme idéal / A Perfect Man (2015). It’s a film starring the fabulous Ana Girardot (Cloclo) in the lead female role, which has exactly the same plot as the American film The Words (2012), yet is different enough not to be a pale imitation or a mere remake.
Gozlan has also directed Captifs (2010), Visions (2023) and Dalloway (2025), amongst others.
Pierre is once again excellent. The other actors are also decent. The most important female character is played by the very charismatic Marion Barbeau.
In any case, this film is far better than The Guru / The Guru and the Women, released in 2002, which was a ridiculous flop of a Franco-American-British film written by Tracey Jackson and directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer, co-produced by Universal Pictures, Studiocanal and Working Title Films, starring Jimi Mistry in the title role alongside Heather Graham and Marisa Tomei.
A psychological thriller lasting just over two hours, it’s an easy watch, though the final twenty minutes start to drag a bit. Yet this ending highlights the stress of becoming too big, too important, or even having to move to the US to further one’s career. Especially when we know full well that the Americans don’t need the French! So proving oneself becomes even more daunting.
The very end is touching, but a bit rushed and could have been even better. There are loose ends, and all these details mean this isn’t quite a masterpiece… but we’re not going to complain!
star
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