French Exit
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: February 12, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
13
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloFeb 9, 2021
Jacobs manages this controlled chaos with a dexterity and brittle artificiality that’s quite distinct from all of his previous films Read full review
83
The Film StageMichael FrankJan 29, 2021
French Exit easily could have been an unnecessary cliché. Instead, Jacobs’ film provides a polished portrait filled with originality, melancholy, and comedy. Read full review
75
The Associated PressLindsey BahrApr 1, 2021
It doesn’t always work, but the writing is sharp, the performers top-notch and the set designs achingly beautiful. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayMar 31, 2021
There are times when French Exit beggars belief and tries the viewer’s patience. But as long as the camera stays on Pfeiffer, we’re all hers. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 31, 2021
French Exit allows Pfeiffer free rein to play, and her performance is glorious in a major key of scornful hauteur and a minor key of self-pity. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireFeb 12, 2021
The costume design from Jane Petrie creates a timeless elegance. And Pfeiffer’s performance only becomes richer as her character reveals the kindness that’s been buried within her cool, stylish persona all this time. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 30, 2021
There are many things to enjoy — a cat named Small Frank is up there pretty high for me, as is Pfeiffer’s performance. But it snows you under with a small army of quirky characters and situations. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenFeb 11, 2021
The misadventures of the eccentrically wealthy may not exactly fit the mood right now, but the new French Exit is so genuine in its mix of arch and earnest, idiosyncrasy and earthiness that it creates a space all for itself. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeOct 12, 2020
Yes, French Exit blisters amid the rarefied air of Tom Wolfe or Whit Stillman, but it’s nicely cut with the schadenfreude of “Schitt’s Creek.” Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJon FroschOct 12, 2020
Pfeiffer's performance in this uneven but charming adaptation of Patrick deWitt's 2018 novel certainly isn't her subtlest, but it ranks among her most captivatingly Pfeiffer-ian. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleJenny NulfMar 31, 2021
It’s a film you can easily fall into and out of, a breezy walk through the park. French Exit is simply an enchanting day at the movies. Read full review
67
IndieWireDavid EhrlichOct 13, 2020
The result is an anodyne if increasingly tender little film that would have been lost in its own lineage if not for the strength of its cast. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattOct 12, 2020
There's more to admire than to love in Azazel Jacobs' arch drawing-room comedy, with its surreal styling and arch Wes Anderson-y tics — and something essential lost, maybe, in screenwriter Patrick deWitt's own adaptation of his acclaimed 2018 novel of the same name. Read full review
66
TheWrapSteve PondOct 15, 2020
French Exit walks an uneasy line between darkness and light, elegance and eccentricity, delicious humor and disturbing tragedy. These are not normal people, and this is not a normal film. But Pfeiffer makes it an odd, enjoyably twisty ride. Read full review
65
SlashfilmMarshall ShafferOct 14, 2020
The film does not waste the brilliance of its two leading performances. But it doesn’t expand much upon their skilled interpretations, either. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 25, 2021
Pfeiffer is as grand as ever, and in every sense of the word. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChuck BowenOct 12, 2020
In French Exit’s best passages, sadness and curt, resonant comedy exist side by side unceremoniously. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneK. Austin CollinsFeb 11, 2021
There’s a words-escape-me, tingling, offbeat something about this movie that reels you in — a something dimmed, maybe, by the brunt of the film so clearly guiding us toward this impression. Once it gets there, it doesn’t quite know where to go. Wit gives way to enervation. Read full review
58
Original-CinThom ErnstApr 2, 2021
I struggle to find the point in this exercise, although I know one exists. I think it might have something to do with the breakdown of privilege and the importance of opening up to other equally unfortunate rich people. Read full review
50
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiApr 7, 2021
Despite the film's underwhelming and bizarre story developments, French Exit will remain memorable for Pfeiffer's performance alone. Read full review
50
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldApr 6, 2021
French Exit isn’t without its pleasures; but you watch it dreaming of the movie it might have been. Read full review
50
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottApr 6, 2021
If your definition of a good story is one that keeps you on the hook, wondering where the heck this particular journey will take you, then French Exit certainly qualifies. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 31, 2021
French Exit is worth seeing because it gives a juicy role to Michelle Pfeiffer, who is something to marvel at. But it’s a frustrating film because, as a whole, it’s just not nearly as good as its central performance. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 31, 2021
Pfeiffer is delivering one of the best performances of her career as the complex and formidable and deeply sad Frances, but she’s like a world-class basketball player stuck on the court with a bunch of weekend amateurs. There’s no one to give her a decent game. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisFeb 11, 2021
Too listless to fizz and too peculiar to win us over, French Exit, directed by Azazel Jacobs, is hampered by clockwork quirkiness and disaffected dialogue. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Oct 13, 2020
The film’s artificial, stylized remove—what might be called his current style, a kind of half-ironic, half-romantic wooziness—seems an odd landing point for the scrappy DIY filmmaker behind Momma’s Man and the genuinely touching and hilarious Terri, which DeWitt also wrote and which was so human it hurt. Read full review
42
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonOct 13, 2020
French Exit is sure to divide — it’s got great performances and a confidence in its atmosphere that the gods could envy. The struggle, then, is whether you’re prepared for the sheer amount of deliberate aimlessness Jacobs and deWitt are willing to throw at you. Read full review
40
The TelegraphRobbie CollinJul 6, 2021
It’s the kind of format that works as long as the characters aren’t all completely unbearable – which is, alas, not the case here. Read full review
40
EmpireHanna FlintJun 28, 2021
French Exit boasts an assured cast but drab direction and lazy writing ensure the characters are never as eccentric, cutting or interesting as the film’s tinkling score would have you believe. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreApr 2, 2021
Watching the movie summons the distinct sensation of arriving at a party just as the guests are starting to leave. Read full review
30
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzApr 1, 2021
Simply put, I didn’t care for a single person or situation on-screen, and Jacobs’s curiously unconfident and drab direction, which is in desperate need of tighter editing, only hastened my growing annoyance. Read full review
20
The GuardianBenjamin LeeOct 14, 2020
A defiantly unbelievable and drably directed heap of quirk that’s as overstuffed as it is underpowered, a head-scratching failure for all involved. Read full review
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