You might not expect a movie centered on a refugee crisis to be a comedy, but that’s the case with “Meet the Barbarians.” That said, director Julie Delpy worked to make sure she balanced the comedic tone with proper respect for the subject matter.
The film centers on a town in France that agrees to take in refugees from Ukraine — ironically, this script was already written before Russia’s war with Ukraine began — only to be visibly upset when it turns out that said refugees are actually Syrian.
In crafting the story, Delpy wanted to “reflect on our own inability to empathize,” while still keeping a comedic element.