We all know about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the newly rebooted DC Universe, and even Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. But maybe, just maybe, one day we’ll get the Tobacco Verse. If that happens, it would all start here, with the release of the absurdist French superhero comedy Smoking Causes Coughing.
Written and directed by Quentin Dupieux, the director of movies such as Rubber and Wrong, Smoking Causes Coughing follows an elite team of crime fighters called Tobacco Force. Named after deadly ingredients in cigarettes, they are world-renowned heroes who travel the world fighting bad guys. However, this movie itself takes place in between those adventures. Here’s the trailer.
The very weird, very gross trailer (which, yes, we are quoted in) doesn’t quite make it clear but most of the film isn’t Tobacco Force fighting crime. It’s in there and it’s great. But more than that, it’s an anthology film as each member of the team tries to outdo the others by telling scary stories. Only the stories aren’t scary. They’re just really, really odd.
We saw the film last year at Fantastic Fest and while at the time it didn’t have a U.S. release, it’s now set to hit theatres and on demand March 31. As you can read in our review, this is more of an absurdist comedy that uses superheroes as a hook, and it’s a little all over the place, but it’s never boring or predictable. In fact, it’s frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious. Well worth a rental or watch if you’re into that kind of stuff. Which we very much are.