“Stay With Us” or “Reste un Peu” (2022) is billed as a comedy but adjust your expectation. Gad Elmaleh, who is apparently a comedian and actor, directed, cowrote and starred in this autofiction film about visiting his parents while keeping a big secret from them. Born and raised in Casablanca, Morrocco as a Sephardic Jew, Gad has decided to convert to Catholicism because of his deep connection to Mary. Once they figure it out, Gad weighs the pros and cons of getting baptized.
Comedians can be needy people, and humor’s bedrock is very country dependent. It is the only genre that is challenging to export to other countries though to be fair “Misericordia” (2024) is French and funny, so it is not an excuse here. If “Stay With Us” did not constantly reference his resume or cut to his standup routine (think the opening to every episode of “Seinfeld” with the brick wall), I would not be reminded that he was acting and got into the story, but he is not funny. Elmaleh is the equivalent of comedians who were hits decades ago making jokes where they insert a racial group then say they are like that then use another to contrast it except he uses religion (Catholic, Jewish and Muslim). It is a dated kind of comedy whereas in the US, people are at a whole new stage of comedy. To be fair, French and the US have very different relationships with religion, specifically Catholicism. but in the US, people make fun of Catholism because of all the scandals. His interrogation of how the French express their religious life translates as deeply conservative, which he knows considering his dad makes a Presidon’t reference and feels like a reach, because he feels like Christians are persecuted. Maybe in France, but in the US, the ones who are right of center are doing just fine though Jesus may be outside their door knocking until ICE grabbed him because He is not American or white passing.
If it was a drama or focused more on his parents, Régine and David, who play themselves and are the funniest part of “Stay With Us,” it could have worked. Just watching them go about their routine is a riot. Dad likes virtually flying planes, but he cannot even get away from Jesus in a simulation. Régine is the best. She conspires how to get him to ditch the luxury hotel and stay with them—the first reference to the title. She snoops in his room, reacts when she discovers his penchant for Mary then tries to find a way to get that woman to return her spot as his mother. Catholicism gets treated like finding porn in your teen son’s room except worse because they laugh at sex jokes. Interrogating their daughter Judith, who also plays herself, they investigate where they went wrong. Once Gad’s parents get less screentime, the film’s momentum and freshness stop abruptly.
“Stay With Us” could have worked as a docudrama. During a shabbat dinner, Cousin Éric (Rony Kramer) goes on a rousing rant in praise of Judaism, history and the Catholic Church, its art and sins against their community: “But our beauty is within, not steeples and stuff.” On the other end of the spectrum, the Rabbi (Pierre-Henry Salfati) advises the parents to chill out, and he does a better job analyzing Gad than Gad does. A woman rabbi (Delphine Hoevilleur) is similarly even-tempered and not alarmed. As a Jesus follower, it was refreshing to hear a variety of Jewish community reactions to a Jewish person possibly converting to Christianity instead of the party line that does not dwell on the ripple effects on family and community.
“Stay With Us” is frustrating. It is difficult for anyone to explain a spiritual experience, but real filmmakers convey it even if the viewer does not share that faith: “Suspiria” (2018), “Midsommar” (2019), “Summertime” (2020), “Sinners” (2025). I started off not understanding the attraction to Mary (to be fair, I’ve had that issue since I was born), and I finished the movie none the brighter. It felt as if he had a logistical checklist, and there is entirely no real suspense about whether he will get baptized or keep his family happy. His depiction of life in the Catholic Church feels quotidian and anticlimactic, not the kind of experience that would transform someone’s life and have them risk communal disapproval. “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” (2023) felt more visceral in the child’s inability to find God in the conventional way, but solitary moments of prayer. “Final Vows” (2024) was elemental yet passionate in showing how pleasurable a life serving God would be. “Of Gods and Men” (2010) made dying for God seem viable, not insane.
Gad as a protagonist is inscrutable though his devotion to Mary seems sincere. When Agnes (Olivia Jubin) appears as he is lighting candles, it feels as if he is going to start something with her, but it segues into a friendship with Raymond (Guy Moign), a neighbor across the street, whom he strikes up a relationship. It is random, but life is random, and it feels like the sincerest part of “Stay With Us.” His scenes at the church with the people who helped him with his faith journey feel comparatively flat just as he goes through the motions of practicing his native faith. There are a couple of moments of spontaneous devotion. First, when he is eating with Cousin Éric and starts to instinctually fold his hands into the prayer pose. Then the first time that he lights the candles in church, he seems completely absorbed and present in the moment. Of course he is doing it with a camera that he is directing at him so…….cue skepticism. He is a better actor than a comedian.
Some actors/personalities can pull off playing a version of themselves, still be funny and make you forget that they are not actually playing another version of themselves like Steve Coogan in “The Trip” franchise. I’ve never seen their television series, but Larry David, Louie C.K., Larry Sanders and Ricky Gervais are allegedly expert at this. Elmaleh is not one of them because he reveals almost nothing intimate about himself to create the illusion of witnessing his life unfold. Watching “Stay With Us” reveals nothing about him as a person except allegedly his spiritual life. He is a father, presumably an important part of any person’s life. He likes running, laughing and eating, but there is not anything unique about him as an individual, just external defining factors.
Elmaleh is great at shooting interiors, which reflect more about the people that live there before characters open their mouth. The scenes of his parents in a bed that seems too tiny for them speaks to the length and health of their marriage. When he eventually arrives at the hotel, even though the accommodations are expansive and luxurious, it feels desolate compared to other spaces.
“Stay With Us” would have value if you are a fan of Elmaleh or experience the same ambiguity of not wanting to betray your community in public but privately are already practicing a different faith, which is the only one that you care about and diverges from conventional standards of Christianity. Unfortunately, Elmaleh is never vulnerable and does not give a sense of who he is, which may be the point. He does not know. On a personal level, if he asked me for his advice, I’d tell him not to convert because if he does not believe in Jesus, it is not worth the hassle for Mary. I’m not a Catholic so I think of Mary as a normal person who possesses more faith than the average person for consenting to a crap deal for her (community stigma that ends with your sun brutally murdered in public after years of worrying where he went then not being a good family member—hard pass), but no innate power outside of God—just like anyone. I understand that he felt differently, and Agnes agreed with him, but is it the party line? It would have been helpful to get the mainstream Catholic perspective. Sister Catherine (Catherine Thiercelin) seems onboard even after hearing his Jesus comment but does not dig deeper. Is it fear of losing a convert? The majority of characters are unclear on the Christian side, and it was frustrating. In real life. Elmaleh denies converting. What is the point of this except attention unless the point is liminal spirituality.
