The Meaning of Family, a fantasy comedy from Jean-Patrick Benes starring Alexandra Lamy and Franck Dubosc, is airing on France 2 on Sunday, April 19, 2026 at 9:10 p.m. Released in cinemas in 2021, the film centers on a body-swap premise that’s applied not to a couple, but to an entire family. This schedule also highlights the actors’ reunion after Tout le monde debout.
The Meaning of Family
Film | 2021
In theaters: June 30, 2021
Airing on France 2 : Sunday, April 19, 2026 at 9:10 p.m.
Fantasy comedy | Runtime: 1h32
Directed by Jean-Patrick Benes | Starring Alexandra Lamy, Franck Dubosc, Christiane Millet
Original title: Le Sens de la famille
Nationality: France
The starting point is immediate domestic chaos: one morning the Morels wake up in the body of a different family member. The film leans on a well-known device from fantasy cinema and comedy, but it expands it to an entire clan—parents, teenagers, a child, and grandma. This choice shifts the story’s balance, moving beyond a simple swap of viewpoints to a complete upheaval of the family unit.
Jean-Patrick Benes and Allan Mauduit built the project around a core idea: a collective body swap that began life as a TV series concept before becoming a feature film. The movie hinges on how characters' behaviors and gestures reveal who is really inhabiting which body, a central trope of this kind of comedy. The setup also leans into a warmer, more family-oriented frame, where the forced exchange becomes a way to recalibrate the dynamics between parents and children, as well as the tensions within the couple.
The cast brings together Alexandra Lamy, Franck Dubosc, Christiane Millet, Artus, Jackie Berroyer, Nils Othenin-Girard, Rose de Kervenoaël and Mathilde Roehrich. The ensemble plays a crucial role in the film’s mechanics, with each performer having to adopt the stance, the speech patterns, or the instincts of another character. This approach continues a tradition of popular cinema that favors situations over spectacular effects, delivering an accessible comic tone with a clearly identified fantastical element.
The Sense of Family also featured in the Official Selection of the 2021 Alpe d'Huez Film Festival. On the director's résumé, the film notably follows Vilaine and the series Kaboul Kitchen, offering a broader, more mainstream take rooted in family life, identity swaps, and the daily mix-ups that come with it.
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