De leven Öllern / Die lieben Eltern

De leven Öllern / The dear parents

Comedy by Armelle and Emmanuel Patron
Low German by Christian Richard Bauer

The adult siblings Pierre, Jules and Louise are summoned home by their parents - there is something urgent to discuss. However, fearing the worst, Vincent and Jeanne reveal an extraordinary decision to them: they want to emigrate to Cambodia to set up an orphanage there. When asked how they are going to finance this, they simply prevaricate, but eventually it comes out: Vincent and Jeanne have won the lottery, and with the birth dates of their children. So aren't they entitled to some of the money? And how much is it exactly? Soon the otherwise harmonious family is at loggerheads, secret agreements are made and bourgeois selflessness is revealed to be archaic selfishness - until someone has a gun in their hand.

In the best manner of well-known French comedies, "De leven Öllern" is also a firework of biting wordplay, pointed situation comedy and characters who have absolutely no control over their impulses. How much money do you need to be happy? How far does our greed for wealth take us? And what do parents owe their children?