French Exit

There's no ostensible plot. Just scenes. And a running gag about the reincarnated soul of the family cat. And not one, but two aggressively unfunny "comedy" seance sequences. An endurance test.

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.

Not a bad party to get stuck at but one with only one guest worth talking to.

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.

"French Exit" isn't without its pleasures; but you watch it dreaming of the movie it might have been.

French Exit has a few grace notes in its final chapter, with Pfeiffer delivering beautifully subtle work as Frances comes to terms with her fate, but it's too little, far too late.

French Exit is the perfect mixture between drama and extremely dry humor. Michelle Pfeiffer exudes elegance with every scene she's in, and Lucas Hedges plays his usual endearing, supportive character.

The film encourages a message of making the best of things but there is an aloofness to engage meaningfully with these characters.

With beautiful reflections about love and life, aided by romantic views of Paris in the winter, French Exit offers a sensitive and empathetic lens on someone that is suddenly at odds with her life.

Indie darling Azazel Jacobs’s film is a strange mix of causticity and ambivalence