# Smoking Causes Coughing

Smoking Causes Coughing (French: Fumer fait tousser) is a 2022 French comedy film written, shot, edited and directed by Quentin Dupieux. It stars an ensemble cast, led by Gilles Lellouche, Vincent Lacoste, Anaïs Demoustier, Jean-Pascal Zadi and Oulaya Amamra, featuring David Marsais [fr], Adèle Exarchopoulos, Grégoire Ludig [fr], Doria Tillier, Jérôme Niel, Blanche Gardin, Alain Chabat and Benoît Poelvoorde. The film follows a team of five superheroes (Lellouche, Lacoste, Demoustier, Zadi and Amamra) who go on compulsory retreat in order to strengthen cohesion within their group until an enemy named Lézardin (Poelvoorde) interrupts the retreat to destroy the planet Earth.
Smoking Causes Coughing had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2022 to the non-competitive Midnight Screening section. It was released in France on 30 November 2022 by Gaumont. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Dupieux's writing and direction, cast performances and humor. Several French critics cited Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Choudenshi Bioman, Tales from the Crypt, Power Rangers and Les Nuls as inspirations for the film.

## Premise

After a devastating battle against a diabolical giant turtle, the Tobacco Force is sent on a mandatory week-long retreat to strengthen their decaying group cohesion. Their sojourn goes wonderfully well until Lézardin, Emperor of Evil, decides to annihilate planet Earth.

## Cast

* Gilles Lellouche as Benzène, a member of Tobacco Force
* Vincent Lacoste as Methanol, a member of Tobacco Force
* Anaïs Demoustier as Nicotine, a member of Tobacco Force
* Jean-Pascal Zadi as Mercure, a member of Tobacco Force
* Oulaya Amamra as Ammoniaque, a member of Tobacco Force
* David Marsais [fr]
* Adèle Exarchopoulos as Céline
* Grégoire Ludig [fr] as Christophe
* Doria Tillier as Agathe
* Jérôme Niel as Bruno
* Blanche Gardin as Tony
* Alain Chabat as the voice and puppeteer of Chief Didier, a rat who is the chief of Tobacco Force
* Benoît Poelvoorde as Lézardin, an Emperor of Evil
* Raphaël Quenard as Max
* Anthony Sonigo [fr] as Michaël
* Julia Faure
* Jules Dhios Francisco as Lézardou

## Release

Smoking Causes Coughing premiered at the midnight section of the Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2022. It was released theatrically in France on November 30, 2022.

## Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 54 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "Quentin Dupieux still isn't for everyone -- but if you're on his loopy wavelength, Smoking Causes Coughing causes laughter." Metacritic assigned a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The French cinema site AlloCiné gave the film a rating of 3.3/5 stars based on 34 reviews.
Valerie Complex of Deadline Hollywood wrote that "The director's stories know how to take extreme violence and turn it into sarcasm and comedy, often using inanimate objects to reflect humanity's shortcomings." Guy Lodge of Variety wrote that "In this amiably trollish throwaway, Dupieux invites his characters and audience alike to chill out and take things as they come, preferably with a smoke in hand." Martin Kudlac of Screen Anarchy wrote that Dupieux "approaches the rabbit hole of meta-fictional narration with a Lewis Carroll verve." Tim Grierson of Screen Daily wrote that "It's all fairly obvious, but also pretty consistently funny."