Starring Gilles Lellouche, Anaïs Demoustier

Written & Directed by Quentin Dupieux

Gaumont, In cinemas now.

A group of tobacco inspired superheroes go on a team bonding weekend to bolster their chances of saving the planet.

Imagine a movie buddy says to you: ‘How do you fancy 75 minutes of zany, French madcap comedy?’ If you’re anything like me, the words ‘zany’, ‘French’, ‘madcap’ and ‘comedy’ in the same sentence are likely to send your toes into terminal spasms, and you’re likely to reply: ‘Sorry, mate, I’ve got some root canal work that needs doing.’

However, if you pass on Quentin Dupieux’s zany French madcap comedy, Smoking Causes Coughing, you’ll be missing a real treat. Whether by accident or design, this barely coherent hour-and-a-quarter of surreal cinematic non sequiturs is wonderfully entertaining.

If you’ve got a taste for urbane ageing French Power Rangers – called Nicotine, Menthol, Mercury, Methanol and Benzene – who destroy rubbery giant monsters by sincerely induced cancer rays; if you could be sexually attracted to a giant drooling rat commander; and you’re interested in the horror stories a talking barracuda might tell you while it’s on the barbecue then this is the film for you.

By being so short, it doesn’t outstay its welcome and I laughed throughout – sometimes against my better judgement.

Verdict: Smoking Causes Coughing may be a one-off cinematic oddity, but it’s completely original and a welcome antidote to the awfulness of the rational world. 8/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com