Based on a short film by Tremblay first released on YouTube called La Bataille de Farador ("The Battle of Farador"), the film tells the story of Charles, Louis, Guillaume, and Paul, four geeks who in high school start a tabletop RPG called "Farador" obviously inspired by D&D, with Charles as the GM. The goal for the party is to reach the castle of Farador and defeat its namesake dark lord. Along the way maybe enjoy some fantasies of what the boys don't really experience in real life, like being popular with girls.
Fast forward 18 years, and the game is still going. The castle closer than ever, and yet feeling all the more unreachable, after Paul left the game when he made a girlfriend. Charles, in turn, is ostensibly working on his erotic fantasy novel which he hopes to be his big break but is hitting a creative dead end. Guillaume, meanwhile, has turned into a passive-aggressive jerk whose sole goal is to finish the game, and he readily bullies Charles and Louis towards that goal. All three remaining players live in a home they rent together, and all occupy fairly dead end jobs.
Adding further fuel to the fire is the return of Charles' sister Kim, who moved back from Belgium to Canada after an experience led her to discover she might've always been into girls. Charles offers her Paul's now vacant room, much to Guillaume's horror, and Louis' confusion as he harbors a long suppressed crush on Kim. Furthermore, Kim wants Charles' help in helping her resolve a teenage crush she never acted on. Charles finds himself torn between this loyalty to his friends, and his 18 year long campaign and a push by his sister and others to get his life together and act on his ambitions.
The film was released on April 21, 2023.
- Accidental Murder: Mordak ends up getting his head chopped off by Gardakan when the latter is trying to kill Tom's character over getting a knife stuck in his ass while trying to swipe his coin purse. While Tom was deliberately trying to derail the campaign, he'd been doing so by minimally participating in combat, stealing the loot, and trying to swipe Gardakan's coin purse in his sleep. Mordak ending up killed was most likely not in the plans, especially given the dramatic level difference between the two characters.
- Adaptation Expansion: The original short is basically the segment with the Belgian boyfriend joining the game, with the entire story around this added for the movie.
- Adaptational Jerkass:
- Guillaume was already a Jerkass in the original sketch, but the movie makes him into a manipulator who gaslights everyone around him so the campaign can keep going. He ends up being much nicer by the end, when he sees how much fun everyone is having at the table.
- Tom in the original sketch was a bit of a goof, but was mostly trying to reconnect with his old friends. Tom in the movie acted as he did to deliberately sabotage the campaign and drive it Off the Rails at Kim's behest.
- Adaptational Nationality: Due in part to the original character of Tom being split between Tom and Paul, Tom is Belgian in the movie.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Louis is more of an Extreme Doormat to Guillaume in the movie rather than being as neurotically invested with the game as him. When his character gets killed and he lashes out at Guillaume for constantly holding him back from being able to be happy, he Grew a Spine and becomes a much better individual for it by the end.
- Ambiguously Bi: News of why Kim came to live with the guys made the rounds among them, making them even more confused when her Belgian ex-boyfriend shows up and she seems to hook up with him again. In the final session of Farador, she also makes a joke about having sex with (male) musicians, and it's unclear whether it's herself talking or in-character as her elf archer who's fine kissing male characters.
- Amicable Exes: Kim with Tom, when he shows up by surprise in Quebec in an attempt to at least talk about their separation, and they remain on friendly terms (to the guys' confusion as they mistake it for Kim going back to loving men).
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Charles likes his sister but he finds the idea of living with her unappealing and is clearly tired of all her impulsive decisions and half-baked plans.
- Ass Shove: Gardakan gets a knife blade in his ass in the middle of the night courtesy of a dice fumble from Tom, leaving it stuck so hard he can't pull it out, and when Gardakan does eventually remove it he's still bleeding by the time of the final battle. This leads to complications in the final battle when his wound is still fresh enough that Farador's Shark-dragon companion fixates on the blood from his rear.
- Back for the Finale: Paul and his cleric character return for the final session, at Charles' invitation.
- Back from the Dead: Paul's cleric character was killed in a previous session that ended with him leaving the campaign. When Charles invites him back for the finale, he gets his old character back as he was.
- Backup Twin: Louis' second character, Marduk the Bard, is his character Mordak's twin brother.
- Basement-Dweller: Charles, Louis, and Guillaume still live in a house they rent together like kids just out of high school. It's not clear if Charles' parents are alive due to his sister moving in with him. Paul used to live with them but moved out when he got a girlfriend, and his moving in is painted as what allowed him to get a normal life.
- Beard of Evil: When he reveals himself, Sorcerer-King Farador, portrayed by the normally clean-shaven Charles, has a beard.
- Bland-Name Product:
- "Wizards of the Realm" is clearly meant to be a stand in for D&D creator "Wizards of the Coast".
- The cereal that Guillaume is eating the morning after Tom stays in Kim's room is clearly meant to be a stand-in for Kellogg's Rice Krispies.
- Bow and Sword in Accord: Kim's archer character both wields a bow, with which she is very proficient with even while blindfolded, and a sword that she mainly uses in the tavern brawl against Farador's royal guards.
- Creator Cameo: As part of the Remake Cameo, director Edouard Tremblay appears as the original Tom when Charles goes to Toronto to present his novel manuscript to Wizards of the Realm.
- Death by Adaptation:
- In the original sketch, Tom merely lost his character sheet and likely threw it out in the years since he's last played with the group. In the movie, Paul (a Decomposite Character of Tom) was still playing with the group until two weeks earlier, when his character was killed by poison.
- The original sketch ended with Mordak getting killed and Louis trying to choke Guillaume over it. In the movie, the campaign continues on after this and Gardakan ends up sacrificing himself to protect the party and give Kim's archer character an opening to kill Farador.
- Decomposite Character: Tom is split into two characters: Tom, Kim's ex-boyfriend, and Paul, who is a childhood friend of Charles, Guillaume and Louis.
- Demoted to Extra: Tom was the key character of the original sketch, whereas the movie focuses more on Charles, Guillaume and Louis.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Mordak is merely accidentally stabbed in his sleep in the original sketch. In the movie, Gardakan chops his head clean off when he takes a swing at Tom's character.
- Draw Aggro: During the final battle, Guillaume's paladin ends up attracting the Shark-dragon because of his still fresh bleeding wound. He is also the only one with a chance to beat the creature, leaving the other three party members to fight the evil wizard Farador.
- 11th-Hour Ranger: Charles makes Kim join the game for the final session, to make up for her attempts to sabotage it. Louis is also allowed to make a new PC to finish the campaign, and Paul is invited back with his old character.
- Evil Sorcerer: The Big Bad of the campaign, Sorcerer-King Farador. Though accompanied by a Shark-dragon, he himself is a proficient magical user who redirects most of the party's attacks when they try to fight him.
- Evil Wears Black: When the new party encounters Farador at the end of the campaign, the evil sorcerer played by Charles in the fantasy world is entirely clad in a black armor.
- Geeky Turn-On: Solange is the only person that doesn't find Charles idea of an erotic fantasy novel ridiculous, and is clearly into it.
- Glass Cannon: Louis' character, Mordak the 57th-level archmage. Very powerful, but a spike trap at the beginning of the movie post-Time Skip almost ends him. Gardakan accidentally cuts his head off while the latter was asleep. Mages don't have much armor to begin with.
- Grew a Spine: After Tom sabotages the game and ends up causing the death of Louis' character Mordak, Louis starts to stand up to Guillaume and takes more initiative on his own, even having a friendly conversation with the ice cream truck salesgirl who is usually passive-aggressive towards him when he's with Guillaume.
- Heel Realization: When Kim and Paul (re)join the game to finish the campaign, Guillaume starts off his naturally hostile way, but as the group starts having fun - something they've not really had as a group in a long while, Guillaume starts to realize he's been an asshole all this time. This change is illustrated by him sacrificing his character to protect Paul, and give Kim the opportunity to take out Farador, having his character admit on his deathbed that he was being jealous of them finding happiness.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Gardakan takes a magical blast from Farador that would've killed Paul and Louis' characters. Already wounded by being swallowed whole by the Shark-dragon and slicing his way out of it, it's enough to kill him when the battle is over.
- Horny Bard: Louis' second character plays hard into this trope. Kim plays along, saying if they were backstage at a concert she'd be giving his character a blowjob. The bard uses sex to get one of the three keys.
- It's All About Me: Guillaume is self-centered to a fault, to his friends' chagrin. In game he will regularly try to outshine Louis for his achievements and try to steal the spotlight and attention from him. Out of the game he gaslights everyone around him, and tries to sabotage their happiness and relationships to keep them playing the game, and if they don't let themselves be manipulated - as Paul did - Guillaume grows resentful and passive aggressive and tries to unperson them, lashing out at anyone else who talk about/to them. Suitably his character arc ends when he realizes the others are having fun together and he sacrifices his character so they can win. The implication, based on his character's deathbed confession is that Guillaume has no other aspiration, goals or interests besides watching anime, and resents the others for having aspirations that let them find happiness.
- Insane Troll Logic: The boss of Tigre Électronique believes that the best employees are those who show ambition. Ambitious employee would not be working in dead-end jobs unless they find other passion outside of it so he cuts Charles' hours despite being understaff and Charles needing the hours to pay rent so he can find something to do with his life instead of wasting hours in an electronics store. He is then surprised when Charles quit.Charles: Maybe you wouldn't be low staff if you didn't tell employees they are wasting their time.
- Jerkass: Guillaume, who is passive aggressive to basically anyone around him, and tries to keep his friends "focused" on the game by manipulations, and trying to tank their chances at happiness.
- Lighter and Softer: The short most infamous joke is watered down to Gardakan getting stabbed in the butt instead of being sexually assaulted.
- Manchild: Charles, Guillaume and Louis to various degree. Guillaume is probably the worst as he has no aspirations or desires beyond watching anime, and finishing the campaign, and he's rabidly hostile to anyone who stands in the way of either, even if that's entirely his imagination.
- Medium Blending: While most effects and enemies in the fantasy segments of the movie are done in regular CGI, the shark-dragon in the final battle is noticeably animated with stop-motion.
- The Millstone: Guillaume to a big degree is this to Charles and Louis. Charles starts to break off his influence with his sister's help and by focusing on his novel. Louis meanwhile realizes it when Guillaume accidently kills his character, and he talks to a girl working at an ice cream counter that Guillaume kept belittling, realizing he's entirely capable of having pleasant conversations with girls if Guillaume's not around to sabotage him. Unlike most examples of the trope, Guillaume is very much deliberately doing this.
- Murder by Inaction: It's all-but stated that Guillaume and Louis were both aware that the cup Paul's character drank from was poisoned.note Guillaume said nothing because he wanted Paul gone after the latter got a girlfriend, and he manipulated Louis into going along with it.
- Mythology Gag:
- Tom's original name for his thief character is "Boba Fett", as in the original sketch. After Guillaume and Louis complain about it being literally taken from Star Wars, he changes it to "Foba Bett".
- The original scene that ended with Mordak being accidentally killed by Gardakan resulted from Tom making his character sexually assault Gardakan in his sleep when he goes to wake him up, which Guillaume mistakes as Tom trying to steal his gold in his sleep since he makes sure to put on his boots of elvenkind before creeping up to him. In the movie, Tom really is trying to steal Gardakan's gold purse, but ends up fumbling his rolls and drops his knife in Gardakan's ass blade-first by accident instead.
- Nerds Are Virgins: Deconstructed: Charles, Louis and Guillaume are virgins, and have never dated. Paul, who left the game when he got a girlfriend, is the normal one of the group, and the one who had sex. The deconstruction comes from the fact that it's ultimately not because they are nerds that they aren't getting girlfriends, but their lack of ambition, aspirations, life goals, as well as Guillaume proving to be a toxic influence who tries to sabotage the other two. Their hobbies are fine (and in fact Charles finds a girl with a Geeky Turn-On for his fantasy erotic novel). Paul and Kim are both willing to (re)join the game and have fun doing that. Even Louis finds he can actually talk to girls overcomes this when he stops letting Guillaume step on him.
- Related Differently in the Adaptation: In the original sketch, Tom is an old friend of the gang who stopped playing with them back in school, and is now trying to reconnect with them. Tom from the movie is Kim's ex-boyfriend, though he was still on friendly enough terms with Charles. Paul, the other side of Tom's Decomposite Character, only left the group two weeks earlier when he got himself a girlfriend and his character was killed.
- Remake Cameo: The original players from "Tom and his friends" show up playing a campaign of their own when Charles goes to Toronto at the end of the movie to pitch his novel to Wizards of the Realm.
- Off the Rails: Kim asked Tom to join the guys' game and derail it, leading to the nighttime sneak attack that leaves Louis' archmage Mordak dead.
- Off with His Head!: Mordak ends up killed like this by accident when Tom derails the game and causes Gardakan to accidentally chop his head off in his sleep.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Charles can't speak to women without coming across as insensitive or immature.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The captain of Farador's royal guards tries to leave when the rest of his men are killed. Gardakan kills him before he can leave the pub.
- Transparent Closet: Kim gets told by a former classmate that everyone in high school knew she was into "theater girls". Kim notes it took her 18 years to figure that out.
- With This Herring: New players to the campaign join at 1st level, which is considerably low compared to the high levels of Guillaume and Louis' characters (66 paladin and 57 archmage). After Mordak is killed and Louis makes a new character, he starts again as a 1st-level bard, and Kim also joins the campaign as a 1st-level archer. Even with Paul returning with his character at-level, this still leaves Gardakan as the highest-level character in play. Unfortunately, they can't make him fight Farador, as Gardakan's injury is still fresh and bleeding, which keeps the Shark-dragon's attention firmly fixated on him.
