The story of how Abdel Sellou (a charismatic ex-con) came to be the caretaker
of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo (a paralyzed French aristocrat) inspired the award-
winning French movie Les Intouchables (2012), which became an international
phenomenon and broke records as one of the most successful French movies of
all time. Now, The Upside, the American remake of Les Intouchables, starring
Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston, and Nicole Kidman will be released in both the US
and the UK in January 2019. Abdel Sellou and Philippe Pozzo di Borgo were two
people marginalized by society: Sellou a wisecracking, unemployed immigrant,
just out on parole; Pozzo a man born to wealth and privilege, recently
paralyzed from the neck down after a paragliding accident. How they came to
help each other, and the unlikely friendship that became a lifeline for them
both, is an uplifting story that's now been told and retold around the world.
The story of how Abdel Sellou (a charismatic ex-con) came to be the caretaker
of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo (a paralyzed French aristocrat) inspired the award-
winning French movie Les Intouchables (2012), which became an international
phenomenon and broke records as one of the most successful French movies of
all time. Now, The Upside, the American remake of Les Intouchables, starring
Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston, and Nicole Kidman will be released in both the US
and the UK in January 2019. Abdel Sellou and Philippe Pozzo di Borgo were two
people marginalized by society: Sellou a wisecracking, unemployed immigrant,
just out on parole; Pozzo a man born to wealth and privilege, recently
paralyzed from the neck down after a paragliding accident. How they came to
help each other, and the unlikely friendship that became a lifeline for them
both, is an uplifting story that's now been told and retold around the world.
