[2] The film centres on Albert (Pio Marmaï) and Bruno (Jonathan Cohen), two friends with compulsive spending habits who are drawn into environmental activism by the promise of free food and beer rather than any political conviction.

[3] The cast also includes Mathieu Amalric, Luàna Bajrami, James Gaspar De Almeida, Jean-Louis Garçon, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, Noémie Merlant, Héléna Mogelan, Marie Papillon, Sophie Parel, Julie Tessier and Gaïa Warnant.

A Difficult Year was produced by Quad and Ten Cinéma, in co-production with Gaumont and TF1 Films Production.

[10] A Difficult Year received an average rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars on the French website AlloCiné, based on 35 reviews.

Though praising acting of Marmaï and Cohen, he noted overall shallowness of the film's heroes, and criticized the plot twists as implausible.