A young man is suspected of setting off a series of explosions at the department store where he works.

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33-year-old Benjamin Malaussène (Raphaël Personnaz) is officially the technical controller in the department store where he works and, unofficially, its scapegoat. When clients have grievances about the appliances they have purchased, Malaussène is yelled at in front of them until they take pity on him and decide not to complain. He also supports his family of half brothers and sister, whom their mother, always off on vacation, neglects. At night, he tells them an imaginative version of how he spent his day. A little before Christmas, there are a series of explosions at work and he is accused of setting them off. Helped by his journalist Aunt Julia (the radiant Bérénice Béjo), he secretly investigates the store’s boss, trying to find the link between the “attacks” and the disappearance of the children conceived there 30 years ago…

Adapted from the novel of the same name by Daniel Pennac, the film does justice to the zaniness of the wild and imaginative universe of Malaussène family. The dialogues are snappy and funny thanks to Benjamin’s mad creativity and the profusion of word games, especially those of Petit, who misunderstands everything (and who gets his hearing aid turned off every time his family members don’t want him to understand). Less sarcastic than the novel, the movie leaves out the narrator’s thoughts, which Pennac wrote so wonderfully.