French Exit Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

French Exit Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson April 22, 2022

It's often said that Jean Renoir's masterpiece The Rules of the Game (La règle du jeu, 1939) is a comedy of manners and farcical tragedy. I was reminded of those genre aspects when I saw the subtitle—A Tragedy of Manners—that either author Patrick deWitt or his publisher, Ecco, originally added to the title of the 2018 novel, French Exit. Those aspects also apply (to a smaller degree) to the screenplay adaptation that deWitt made from his book, which friend and sometime collaborator Azazel Jacobs (Terri) translated into a movie three years later.

In New York's Upper East Side, 65-year-old Frances Price (Michelle Pfeiffer) is a socialite and widow on the brink of insolvency. “My plan was to die before the money ran out, but I kept and keep not dying, and here I am,” she confides to her financial advisor. (Frances is preoccupied with death throughout the film.) It's been twelve years since her husband, Franklin Price (Tracy Letts), died and Frances has incinerated the family fortune. As the movie shows in a flashback, Frances got in trouble with the law after she discovered her spouse's emaciated corpse on their bed and didn't report it to authorities for several days. She already had a skiing trip planned for Vail over a long weekend and went ahead with it while leaving Franklin to rot on the bed. After she was arrested and later released, she decides it's time to reconnect with her adolescent son, Malcolm (Eddie Holland), whom she's spent little time with. The film opens with her picking Malcolm up at a boarding school. Flash-forward to present day New York where Frances quietly sells her heirlooms—artworks, jewelry, wardrobes, and furniture. Frances has been the source of gossip ever since her husband's demise and she's anxious to get away. Joan (Susan Coyne), her generous and only friend, offers to let Frances and twenty-something Malcolm (now played by Lucas Hedges) stay in her apartment in Paris for an indefinite period. Frances eagerly acquiesces but Malcolm is completely taken aback. He was getting ready to inform his mom that he's engaged to his fiancée, Susan (Imogen Poots), but he's at a loss for words. But since he's so tied to mom's hip and co-dependent, he can't do anything but agree to join her. An impatient Susan is disgruntled and seemingly breaks off the engagement.

After selling much of what she owned, Frances has hundreds of thousands of euros and buys tickets for Malcolm and her to travel aboard a cruise-liner bound for France. While his mother sips on martinis and chats with the ship's captain, a bored Malcolm becomes fascinated with Madeleine the Medium (Danielle Macdonald). Madeleine's not initially interested in him but has concupiscent aspirations so she sleeps with Malcolm. When they reach Paris, Malcolm and Frances say their goodbyes to Madeleine for the time being. After getting settled, they receive a mysterious party invite from Madame Reynard (Valerie Mahaffey), an American expat. Mme. Reynard once saw Frances at a party in New York and always wanted to meet her. The Prices are surprised that no other party guests are invited but the madame explains that she's a lonely widow who wants company. Like Frances, she's also an eccentric. She even keeps a dildo in her freezer.

A large gathering.

The Prices brought their black cat, Small Frank, with them to Paris but he vanishes. Frances theorizes that the cat possesses her husband's spirit so she hires Julius, a private investigator (Isaach de Bankolé), to track Madeleine down so they can communicate spiritually with Small Frank. Julius locates Madeleine and brings her over to the apartment where she conducts two séances. (These are some of the film's high points.) Meanwhile, a waiter mails a postcard addressed to Joan that Frances accidentally left on a restaurant's outdoor table that carries a theme of death. Not only does a concerned Joan arrive, but so do Susan and her new boyfriend/former college fiancé, Tom (Daniel di Tomasso)! Joan's apartment has a house full.

Another apt title for French Exit would be Escape to France. Frances sorely wants to get away from a place that's left her ravaged. On the one hand, it seems that she's overly generous when you she over-tips the waiter with a hundred euro and doles outs both hundreds and thousands of euros to two homeless persons. But Frances doesn't give any thought to her son's future. Malcolm has apparently graduated from college but doesn't have a job. Frances's motto is that she wants to spend all the euros and then die. But doesn't she want to leave at least some money to Malcolm? Lucas Hedges is a very fine actor but deWitt hasn't given him any personality. He just heeds commands and does what his mother tells him to do. Also problematic is the movie's flashback-ending. DeWitt evidently changed it from his novel but it reaches neither a resolution, nor closure.

French Exit Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sony has brought French Exit to US Blu-ray on an MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50 (disc size: 34.77 GB). Jacobs's sixth feature appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.39:1. Cinematographer Tobias Datum shot the picture on the Arri Alexa Mini camera. The image is very clear but as you'll see from the frame grabs, it's often dimly light (e.g., Screenshot #s 1, 3, 5, 6-8, 17, and 20) and photographed in dark spaces which are illuminated only by candles (see capture #s 9, 15-16). A lot of the Paris exteriors were shot during overcast days mostly devoid of any sun (e.g., Screenshot #s 18-19 and 21-22). Datum captures New York and Paris' autumnal colors with aplomb. Technical authoring is first rate. Sony has encoded the feature at a mean video bitrate of 30915 kbps.

Sony has provided seventeen scene selections for the 113-minute movie.

French Exit Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sony has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix (3379 kbps, 24-bit). The opening flashback of the film stands out because I could immediately a door open or close along the surround channels. This track has excellent directionality. The sounds of doors and footsteps provide a sonic roadmap for where characters are placed in relation to the scenographic space (on-screen or off). A majority of the dialogue is spoken in English and when characters do speak French, obligatory subtitles appear on screen. Composer Nicholas deWitt (brother of the film's screenwriter) came up with a lighthearted score that's dominated by piano and oboe.

Sony delivers optional English SDH as well as regular subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.

French Exit Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Extended Opening (2:10, 1080p) - this scene was eventually truncated. This is the uncut version. It features additional dialogue between Francis and the ship Captain (Bruce Dinsmore). In this single unbroken take, the camera pans to an overlapping conversation between Malcolm and Boris Maurus (Vlasta Vrana), the ship's doctor. In English, with optional English subtitles.

• Deleted Scenes (4:39 combined, all 1080p) - three deleted scenes: "Do You Want to See Me" (0:52), "Do You Ever Regret" (0:56), and "You Can't Win" (2:51). The first consists of a voicemail Malcolm leaves his girlfriend, immediately followed by a late-night phone call between Francis and a friend. The second is an extended dialogue scene with Francis and Joan walking and talking in a Parisian park. The last is a pre-dawn scene set in the kitchen apartment. It expands upon the tenuous relationship between Francis and Susan. There's a "Play All" option. The scenes are presented in 2.39:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound. In English, with optional English SDH.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:17, 1080p) - Sony's official post-festival trailer for French Exit presented in 2.39:1 anamorphic widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround mix.

• Previews (11:05 altogether, all 1080p) - bonus trailers for other Sony Pictures Classics titles, including The Father, The Truffle Hunters, Nine Days, The Last Vermeer, and I Carry You with Me.

French Exit Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Michelle Pfeiffer is phenomenal as an aging high-society woman who wants to squeeze everything she can out of her last remaining finances. She is French Exit's central performer and complemented by a very solid ensemble (particularly Valerie Mahaffey from ABC's series, Big Sky). I haven't read the novel but reckon that it's superior to Patrick deWitt's script and Jacobs's film. DeWitt seems unsure how he wanted to conclude the film. Also, the supplementation of secondary characters takes away from the focus on Frances and Malcolm's relationship. Sony delivers an excellent transfer that's quite dark. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround mix has a terrific spatial presence. Extras only consist of an elongated opening and a trio of deleted scenes. I would have loved to hear Jacobs, P. deWitt, and Pfeiffer on a commentary track. If you're a fan of Wes Anderson or Whit Stillman, you're sure to enjoy French Exit! A SOLID RECOMMENDATION for this Sony package.