“Kaizen”: “Exceptional” enthusiasm for Inoxtag’s documentary on Everest on YouTube

More than 11 million views in 24 hours: “the counters are going crazy” for the documentary by web star Inoxtag which retraces his ascent of Everest, testifying to an “exceptional” craze, a YouTube spokesperson told AFP on Sunday.

Posted online Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on the platform owned by Google, where it is number one in trends, this film of nearly 2 hours and 30 minutes, entitled “Kaizen”, has also already generated more than 95,000 comments, often dithyrambic, and collected more than a million “likes”.

A hit in theaters

The 22-year-old YouTuber, followed by more than 20 million subscribers on social networks, also had a huge success in theaters, attracting some 340,000 spectators – including 40,000 abroad (Belgium, Quebec, Morocco, etc.) – to the previews of his film on Friday evening and Saturday morning, according to figures given to AFP on Sunday by its distributor, MK2.

For content that was put online for free a few hours later, “this is unheard of,” commented Nathanaël Karmitz, one of the directors of MK2, to AFP, praising the public’s “desire for a collective experience” and a film that “deserves to be seen on the big screen.” This documentary is also “very well suited to viewing on television” with the family, argues the YouTube spokesperson.

Real name Inès Benazzouz, Inoxtag has more than 8 million subscribers on YouTube, 6.1 million on TikTok and 5.6 million on Instagram. “Kaizen” traces the challenge of this mountaineering novice to climb Everest, the highest peak in the world (over 8,800 m), by preparing for it in one year.

In a farewell video to his fans in early April, Inoxtag said he would disconnect from all his networks while he completed his climb. Many media outlets had speculated on the success of his challenge.

His film, which also shows the damage caused by overtourism, pollution and the risks associated with this expedition, was acclaimed by his fans, but also drew some criticism in the press and on social media.

Libération notably deplored the invisibility of the work of the Sherpas, while the mountaineer and photographer Pascal Tournaire pointed out in L’Équipe a “very self-centered” film without any real “exploit”, according to him.