by Derrick Borte
Having recently moved to a suburban neighbourhood, the Joneses appear to be the picture-perfect family unit. Steve, his wife and their two teenage children Mick and Jenn, radiate an aura of righteousness. Their house is full of expensive furniture and technical gadgets. This provokes the jealousy of their neighbours. Exactly the reaction the new arrivals are looking for, because the Joneses are not a family at all, they are employees of a company. It is their job, as a human marketing instrument, to animate their neighbours into buying high-end products. But cracks soon appear in the façade. This film is a satirical illustration of the English expression used to describe a well-known social phenomenon “keeping up with the Joneses”.