The Ending Of Netflix's You People Explained
Jonah Hill and Eddie Murphy are comedy movie legends, each responsible for delivering humorous lines and gestures people are still mimicking decades after they delivered them on-screen. While Hill and Murphy both established themselves as leading men in wildly different eras of Hollywood's history, the duo share the screen together in the Netflix comedy "You People." In this feature, Hill plays broker Ezra Cohen, a Jewish man desperate for love who ends up stumbling into a relationship with Amira Mohammed (Lauren London). Ezra and Amira love each other deeply and are interested in spending the rest of their lives with one another. What they don't love so much is how awkward their parents are with their romantic partners. Ezra's parents objectify Amira and see her as a representative of all Black people, while Amira's dad, Akbar Mohammed (Eddie Murphy), is instantly repelled by the very sight of Ezra.
The culture clashes between the two families get even more arduous as Ezra and Amira prepare to wed, with the Cohens and the Mohammeds recoiling at the idea of being family forever. The typical comedy-movie awkwardness ensues whenever the families collide, which leads to an ending that tries to do a whole lot with the characters in a short span of time. Here's the final stretch of "You People" explained, including all the underlying ramifications for the movie's ensemble of humorously embarrassing characters.
Love is lost ... for now
"You People" is a modern romantic comedy, so that means there has to be a moment in the third act where our primary romantic interests break up, seemingly never to reunite again. For Ezra and Amira, this incident comes after a wedding rehearsal, an event that sees each of them coming to blows with an in-law parent they've been struggling with throughout the movie. Ezra calls out Akbar Mohammed for wanting to destroy his relationship with Amira from the start, which extends to Akbar awkwardly attending Ezra's bachelor party. Meanwhile, Amira interrupts Shelley Cohen's (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) lengthy diatribe about the Chris Rock documentary "Good Hair" to tell Shelley she's been treating her like a toy, not a person. Amira has been dying to be friends with Shelley, but she doubts she'll ever be seen as a person by Ezra's mom.
After these explosive confrontations, Ezra and Amira have a heart-to-heart chat about their relationship. They both agree that, even with their wedding so close, they should call off their relationship. Amira says she's not sure if everyone's relationships with their in-laws are this hard, but she doesn't feel like they should be. Ezra agrees and the two, tears trickling down their respective cheeks, express how much they've loved being with one another. Unfortunately, being a couple means dealing with the other person's parents and they can't do that anymore. Ezra and Amira are no more as a romantic pairing ... for now.
Akbar grapples with himself
During the wedding rehearsal, audiences are introduced to an outsized character in the form of Akbar's brother and Amira's uncle, EJ Mohammed (Mike Epps). While EJ is the most prominently displayed member of Amira's extended family by far in this stretch of "You People," he seemingly only exists to give Akbar someone to talk to as he comes to terms with the idea that he may have been too hard on Ezra. This concept comes into Akbar's mind three months after Ezra and Amira break up. Akbar and EJ are driving together while listening to Ezra on his podcast, with EJ expressing admiration for Ezra's eloquence.
After Akbar continues to insist that Ezra was nothing but trouble, EJ challenges him to specifically clarify what about Ezra made him nothing but trouble for Amira. Akbar notes that, during Ezra's bachelor party, he saw Ezra's pals doing cocaine and hanging out with strippers. Akbar also heard stories of Ezra's previous acts of debauchery in Las Vegas, though EJ notes this doesn't seem to be enough to make Ezra a danger to Akbar's daughter. While Akbar stood resolute in his hatred of Ezra for most of the whole movie, something about EJ's words burrow into his mind. A plan begins to form that will inform the entire climax of "You People."
Ezra loses hope
While Akbar is beginning to see the error of his ways, Ezra is consumed by pessimism. On the podcast he hosts with longtime friend Mo (Sam Jay), Ezra reveals that he's come around to her idea that Black and white people in America can never truly move on from the past. Initially, Mo treats this revelation in a jokey manner, feigning surprise that Ezra would come around to the notion that she's right about something important. However, Ezra's subsequent dialogue reveals something much more brutal behind his agreement with Mo.
The lack of any understanding between himself and Akbar, not to mention the lack of self-awareness or empathy from his mom to Amira, has led him to develop a bleak outlook toward American race relations. If this relationship and these familial dynamics couldn't work, well, Ezra believes it's a sign of much bigger issues in America that can never be erased. Previously, Ezra was an optimistic soul who believed Mo was just exaggerating for comedic effect on the podcast. Now? This perspective is all that he can see, and is also emblematic of the very ham-fisted writing "You People" engages in when it comes to social commentary. Ezra's words sound like he's reading someone else's thesis paper out loud rather than delivering emotional sentiments that only he could express. In this sequence, "You People" epitomizes its knowledge of what themes and issues it wants to explore, but its inability to navigate them in a meaningful way.
It's time for a reunion
The big climax of "You People" begins with Ezra being dragged to his favorite shoe store by Shelley. The now eternally pessimistic Ezra has no interest in shopping for shoes with his mom, especially since the store is where he and Amira used to hang out together. Plus, Shelley's never expressed interest in Ezra's style of footwear before. According to Shelley, though, her best friend just got a style of shoes available at this store and won't stop talking about them, hence the reason for this urgent excursion. It's a thin excuse for shopping, but the real reason Shelley is dragging her son here quickly becomes apparent. As the duo is preparing to enter the store, Amira is also walking up to the entrance.
Initially, Shelley feigns surprise, noting the store's big enough for her and Ezra to shop separately from Amira. However, these two former lovers quickly spot each other and engage in their first interaction in three months. It's an incredibly awkward moment, but one that gets even more perplexing for both Ezra and Amira once Akbar emerges. This is when Shelley finally reveals to her son that she didn't want to go shoe shopping. Instead, her dragging Ezra here was part of an elaborate plan she and Akbar cooked up. It's time to patch things up and see if this relationship can be salvaged.
A fully laced-up pair of apologies
George Lucas once famously said that the elements in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy needed to parallel key aspects of the original three "Star Wars" films. "It's like poetry, they rhyme," Lucas remarked. The screenplay for "You People" is somewhat similar, in that the big reunion moment of its third act echoes an earlier scene that tore Ezra and Amira apart. The way Ezra and Amira confronted Akbar and Shelley, respectively, about how badly they've been treated by their in-laws helped bring the relationship to an end. Now, Akbar and Shelley deliver heart-to-heart monologues to Ezra and Amira, respectively, in an elaborate plan being employed to reunite these lovebirds.
Akbar is the first to speak, with his dialogue focusing on apologizing to Ezra for his prior behavior and the way he never even gave his daughter's fiancée a chance to prove himself. As for Shelley, she delivers an elongated apology centered on how she didn't see Amira as a human being before and how deeply she regrets those actions. Through these words and working together, Akbar and Shelley are trying to show their kids that change is possible. Unfortunately, this scheme also sweeps Shelley's behavior and how it impacted Amira quite quickly under the rug in favor of clumsy stabs at sentimentality. It's a strange decision that inadvertently takes the sting out of Shelley's prior dehumanizing rhetoric. If the movie doesn't think it's a massive deal with long-term consequences, why should we?
Somebody's getting married today!
Shelley and Akbar working together so harmoniously and surprising Ezra and Amira was already a deluge of shocks for the "You People" protagonists. But there's another massive surprise in store for Ezra and Amira. After expressing their apologies, Shelley and Akbar open the doors of the shoe store to reveal they didn't just pick this spot because their kids used to go on dates here. They've organized a splashy wedding for Ezra and Amira, attended by all their friends and family, that's ready to go right now. Though they haven't talked in three months, it's apparently time for Ezra and Amira to get united in holy matrimony.
After so much chaos in their romantic lives, the wedding of Ezra and Amira goes off without a hitch. The duo can exchange vows, kiss (though Ezra smooches with a bit too much tongue for some of the wedding attendees), and then dance the night away with their loved ones. As the pair enjoy themselves, we also see Shelley and Akbar standing on the sidelines, cracking jokes with one another, an interaction meant to show the audience that their friendship will last longer than just tricking their kids into meeting at a shoe store. After so much strife, "You People" ends with a shmaltzy wedding. It's an old-fashioned conclusion for a movie that's strained to feel modern throughout its runtime and further undercuts the weighty ambitions of this comedy.
You People's ending leaves some plot threads unresolved
While the conclusion to "You People" is built from the ground up to send moviegoers away with smiles on their faces, some viewers may be puzzled by certain narrative threads that have gone unresolved. While everything related to Ezra's personal life is wrapped up in a bow, Amira's struggles go a bit less noticed. Specifically, "You People" doesn't follow up on Amira's difficulties securing employment for her skills as a stylist. A mid-movie sequence sees her going into a job interview, failing to secure the gig, and then getting frustrated with Ezra when he suggests he could use some family connections to get Amira a cushy job.
This is a critical moment that demonstrates how the problems in the duo's relationship go deeper than just uncomfortable in-law interactions. Plus, it shows the kind of day-to-day problems Amira faces in a career she treasures. However, Amira's employment problems don't get resolved at any point within the lengthy third act of "You People." While we see Ezra escape his life as a broker to pursue his passion for podcasting, Amira's life beyond Ezra and his family is left vaguely defined. This makes it hard to enjoy the bubbly ending to "You People," since Amira's unresolved personal problems linger over the climax like a storm cloud.
You People's ending is happy...but is it thoughtful?
"You People" has been dealing with some heavy material throughout its runtime exploring modern-day race relations, including how white people who think they're being helpful are actually just engaging in another form of objectification of Black individuals. Unfortunately, those concepts get put on a shelf so "You People" can have a traditional happy romantic-comedy ending, where there are no traces of intolerance whatsoever. Even the supposedly very racist Bubby Cohen (Rhea Perlman) is just clapping along to the music and cheering on love in the wedding finale.
"You People's" exploration of race was already a bit clumsy before this finale, including cuts between the overbearing behavior of Shelley and Akbar that feel like they're insinuating a bit of "both-sides-ism" when it comes to modern racial strife. This ending, however, really drops the ball on "You People's" weighty thematic ambitions. After acknowledging the existence of racial divides in modern America, "You People" ends up having nothing profound to say on these issues. It's more interesting in indulging in traditional romantic-comedy narrative routes rather than saying something unique or challenging. Plus, with its attempts at relevant social commentary just lingering in the background unresolved, it's difficult to even enjoy any of the romance or fun of "You People's" finale. "You People's" story sometimes seems to be heading towards something fresh or insightful, but its ending just delivers what we've all seen a thousand times before.
No sequel teases in You People's ending
The two screenwriters of "You People," Kenya Barris and Jonah Hill (who also directed the movie), are no strangers to serialized storytelling. Barris especially is familiar with following characters over countless adventures thanks to his exploits in television, which include "Black-ish" and its various spin-offs. Hill, meanwhile, played the character of Morton Schmidt across two "Jump Street" movies, while his talents as a voice actor were also employed across multiple "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Lego Movie" installments. Given their familiarity with sequels and franchise fare, it's not incomprehensible to imagine "You People" ends with some sort of tease for a potential follow-up.
However, "You People" is decidedly interested in keeping its story confined to a standalone enterprise. Its ending showing Ezra and Amira's wedding offers no teases for future adventures involving these characters, unlike the final line of "21 Jump Street," which established the idea of its lead characters going undercover at college in another movie. Of course, like Barris and Hill, Netflix is no stranger to producing endless sequels to popular properties, so a sequel to "You People" could still happen if the original film takes off with subscribers. Within the confines of just the ending of "You People," though, there is no sequel teases to be found.