Rough Cut Reviews

In Love Is Overrated (L’Amour, c’est surcoté), a sharp, offbeat romantic comedy hitting UK cinemas this Wednesday, Laura Felpin and Hakim Jemili form a high-energy, refreshingly unconventional couple. Directed by Mourad Winter and adapted from his own book, the film blends biting humour with emotional honesty. We sat down with the trio behind this vibrant debut — Felpin, Jemili and Winter — to talk about laughter, love, and breaking the rules of rom-coms.

Anis, played by Jemili, has never really understood women. One evening, he crosses paths with Madeleine (Felpin). He’s awkward but endearing; she’s blunt and bold, immediately turning their first encounter into a battle of wits and flirtation. Anis, instead of playing it straight, gets tangled in an escalating series of absurd lies, convinced he needs to reinvent himself to impress her. Around them, the film’s supporting characters — from Madeleine’s quick-tongued friends to her sarcastic father, portrayed by François Damiens — treat banter like a lifestyle. And then there’s Paulo (Benjamin Tranié), who turns politically incorrect jokes into a kind of performance art — nothing and no one is off-limits.

Winter’s approach is anything but restrained. For his first feature film, adapted from his 2021 novel published by Robert Laffont, he dismantles social niceties with sharp, unapologetic humour. Love Is Overrated isn’t afraid to poke fun at prejudice, fear, and even itself. The result is often laugh-out-loud funny — but it doesn’t stop there.

Beneath the surface, the film offers an unexpected depth. Winter dares to explore male vulnerability and the anxieties surrounding intimacy. Through Anis’s emotional chaos, he paints a touching portrait of a man struggling with self-image and the fear of truly connecting. This blend of comedy and sensitivity earned the film a special jury mention at the Alpe d’Huez Comedy Film Festival earlier this year.

For Laura Felpin, who’s been rising steadily on both stage and screen, this project marks a turning point: “The older I get, the more I realise how essential humour is,” she reflects. “It’s not just about making people laugh — it’s about coping, connecting, surviving.”

Hakim Jemili, meanwhile, embraces the chaos of his character with relish. “Anis is a mess — but a loveable one,” he says. “We all invent versions of ourselves when we fall in love. He just takes it a bit too far.”

As for Mourad Winter, Love Is Overrated is more than a romantic comedy — it’s a manifesto. “I wanted to strip away all the clichés,” he explains. “To show the comedy in pain, the truth in nonsense. Sometimes, being honest means being ridiculous.”

If this film is anything to go by, audiences will be seeing much more from this creative trio — and not just in the realm of romantic comedy. With humour, heart, and a healthy disregard for convention, Love Is Overrated is a breath of fresh air in French cinema.