French Exit (2020)

Jack and I liked a lot this story of an eccentric American widow who moves to Paris with her grown son and their cat. There is a supernatural element to it but I think it's a spoiler to tell you (though no other reviewer does). Michelle Pfieffer is just divine in the leading role and apparently ranked this movie highly in her career, even before her Golden Globe nomination. Lucas Hedges is the son, Imogen Poots his girlfriend, Valerie Mahaffey their American acquaintance in Paris, and Danielle Macdonald a psychic they meet on the ocean crossing. Tracy Letts makes an appearance in flashback as Pfieffer's character's late husband.

Azazel Jacobs directs with a steady hand from a script adapted by Patrick DeWitt from his own 2018 novel.

DeWitt's brother Nicholas deWitt (different capitalization intended) makes his screen debut as composer, but I cannot find the soundtrack online.

In our house, we refer to the "Irish goodbye," and the "French exit" is the same thing, is sneaking away from a party without bidding farewell. In French, however, the expression used is "Filer à l'anglaise" or "English leave."

I have a list of rules in movies and this one breaks the second rule by not including a shot of the Eiffel Tower.

Pfeiffer  was last blogged for Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hedges for Let Them All Talk, Poots for The Art of Self Defense, Macdonald for Patti Cake$, Letts for Little Women, Jacobs for The Lovers, and Patrick DeWitt for Terri (also directed by Jacobs). Mahaffey won an Emmy for a role in five episodes of Northern Exposure in the 90s, and I enjoyed her work in seven of The United States of Tara, six of Dead to Me, and many more. She's nominated for a Spirit Award for her supporting role in this movie.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences have their eyes on the exit sign, averaging 62 and 43%, respectively. We disagree.

We watched it on March 9 via a screener from the Independent Feature Project Spirit Awards. I've been waiting to post this until it's available to stream, even though it opened in bricks and mortar theatres in early April. If Jack and I aren't ready to go back to the theatres, I figure my audience isn't, either. That said, this draft is weighing me down so I'm hitting "Publish." The movie has a Facebook page and an official website, so if you want to see it, follow one of those links.