The film was released on January 27, 2023, on Netflix and had a limited theatrical run on January 20th.
Tropes in You People
- Adults Are Useless: For Ezra and Amira, the other adult characters are not necessarily friendly to them due to their racial and cultural differences.
- An Aesop
- Two people, especially people of different races, can never fully relate no matter how close they are to each other.
- Accept your kids and whatever they want to do with their lives.
- People do out-of-character things, and that’s okay because we’re not perfect.
- Adam Westing: Eddie Murphy as Akbar.
- Contrived Coincidence: Ezra’s Uber driver looks exactly the same as Amira and drives a red mini, leading to confusion at the beginning when he accidentally gets into Amira's car thinking she's the Uber driver.
- Cringe Comedy: The movie's humor is built on the awkward racial tension of the families of an interracial, inter-religious couple interacting as the two head towards their wedding.
- Dance Party Ending: After Ezra and Amira wed, everybody dances
- Dumbass Has a Point: On both sides.
- Shelly may be a sheltered and privileged woman whose treatment of black people falls squarely under Condescending Compassion, but she isn't wrong when she points out to Akbar that Louis Farrakhan
is an antisemite and that Jewish people have been the victims of discrimination and genocide, including the Holocaust, throughout history. - Likewise, while Akbar and Fatima are dismissive toward Jewish suffering during the Holocaust, and believe anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Jewish control of the slave trade, they aren't wrong when they point out her lack of understanding of her own privileges that African Americans largely lack.
- Shelly may be a sheltered and privileged woman whose treatment of black people falls squarely under Condescending Compassion, but she isn't wrong when she points out to Akbar that Louis Farrakhan
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Ezra makes a podcast that Shelly and Akbar hear on the radio. This inspires them to set things right, which they do, and Ezra and Amira marry at last.
- Establishing Character Moment: Akbar shows up to lunch in a sweatshirt that says "Fred Hampton Was Murdered". He then complains about all the non-black people patronizing what was once a black business and how none of the black people have dark skin or natural hair textures.
- Good-Times Montage: Ezra and his friends have a bachelor party in Vegas with Akbar suspiciously joining in to witness their reckless behavior.
- Hypocrite:
- Akbar, a member of the Nation of Islam, looks down on Sunni Muslims for flaunting their religiousness while knowing little about true Islam. Omar points out that his description fits the Nation better since Sunnis are the older sect.
- Ezra criticizes his mother for being Pretty Fly for a White Guy when talking to Amira but he's similar when talking to Amira's parents.
- Innocently Insensitive: While Shelly thinks of herself as progressive-minded toward black people, she treats Amira in a highly patronizing manner, interested more in the status that having a black daughter-in-law gives her than genuinely connecting with her as a human being.
- Jerkass: Shelly and Akbar both act pretty obnoxious to their respective child's love interest, albeit for different reasons. Shelly is a show-off who’s more concerned about her reputation than moral and individual values, and Akbar believes Ezra is just a bad influence and reckless.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his dislike for Ezra and attempts to sabotage the relationship, Akbar is generally friendly and courteous. Shelly, on the other hand, seems genuinely to be trying to be welcoming toward Amira and is oblivious to how obnoxious she comes off. At the end, they both realize the error of their ways and make amends.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Ezra is the feminine boy, and his radio business partner Mo is heavily masculine.
- Mistaken for Racist: Ezra first meets Amira when he gets into her car thinking she's the Uber driver he called, who also happens to be black and drives the same car model. At first when he tries to explain, she assumes he thinks all black women look alike. She only backs down on this conclusion after he shows her the picture of the Uber driver, and she realizes the woman really does look a lot like her.
- N-Word Privileges: Amira tells Ezra that, being white, he cannot call her father "intense," as she sees it as an understated way of calling him a Scary Black Man.
- Only Sane Man: Compared to the the rest of Ezra and Amira's family members, Omar is a more level-headed individual who recognizes that it's wrong to let racial issues get in the way of the couple's happiness and attempts to keep the peace between the families.
- Parental Marriage Veto: At first, Akbar and Shelly do not approve of Ezra and Amira. They change their tune towards the end.
- Pretty Fly for a White Guy: Shelly and Arnold's attempts to be friendly to Amira as well as Ezra's attempts to be friendly with Akbar and Fatima.
- Priceless Ming Vase: At their first dinner, Akbar tells a story about how his hat was a gift from Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam. It later catches on fire and has to be stomped out.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Ezra gives one to Akbar, and Amira gives one to Shelly during the rehearsal dinner, both calling the parents out on their ignorance and rude behavior towards them.
- Refuge in Audacity: Ezra shows his engagement ring for Amira to Mo, who points out how small it is. She suggests Ezra make up a story that it was inherited from his grandmother who survived the Holocaust, hoping that would dissuade any prying into details.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Omar tells off Akbar in the car for shaming and humiliating Ezra during the Vegas bachelor party, making a point that all people do stupid things, especially when they’re with their friends.
