French Director Cordier Exposes Class Conflict in New Satiricalโ Comedy “Middle Class”
“Middle Class,” the fourth feature film from French director Antony Cordier,โข released September 24, 2025, dissects the tensions between social classes โthroughโ a darkly comedic lens. The film, starring Laurent Lafitte, Laure Calamy,โข and Ramzy Bedia, follows Mehdi, a character Cordier describes as belonging “neither too theโ easy class nor to the popular class,” a โขman โnavigating the complexities of upward mobility after passing the bar exam and aspiring to a career as a high-earning business lawyer.
Cordier, himself from a working-class โฃbackground, draws heavily from personal experience, stating that Mehdi’s “problems, all his class complexes, all his personal neuroses are familiar toโ me.”โค He emphasizes the inherent โขcaricature within social observation, noting, “As soon as we make a little social observationโฆthe real itself isโ a little caricatured, we are forced to goโฃ towards this caricature.”
Beyond class warfare, Cordier’s film also explores the dynamics of desire within couples, a recurring theme in his work. “I always wonder what their sensuality is, what is the sexuality of their couple,” he explained in a September 15 โinterview on the Vertigoโ show.
The film builds on Cordier’s โprevious work, including “UFO” (2020) โand “Irresistible” (2023).
[Listen to Antony Cordier’s interview in Vertigo: Lสน Inwards: Anthony Cordier “Medium class” / Vertigo / 20 min. / September 15, 2025]
Source: Interview by Anne Laure Gannac; Adaptation web: ld; rts.ch.