What to Watch This Weekend: Meander, Rock Paper and Scissors, Our Friend, Son, Fear Street, French Exit, Words on Bathroom Walls, Black Widow

For A Mysterious Horror Sci Fi Film: Meander (Theaters, Redbox, and Digital)
Meander is just a superb horror scifi film, with great practical effects and a grueling, mysterious story all driven by Gaïa Weiss's captivating performance.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Simply Unsettling Family Horror: Rock, Paper, and Scissors (Digital)

Rock, Paper, and Scissors is an understated, unique, and unsettling film that uses some nuanced performances and fantastic music to create this sinister family thriller.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Family-Focused Cult Classic: Son (Shudder)

Son's slow burning story, great cast, and wonderful practical effects tell a family-focused demon story with plenty of hearts that should become a cult classic.  For more information, check out the review! 

For A Stylish Horror Throwback: Fear Street Part One 1994 and Part Two 1978 (Netflix)

The Fear Street Trilogy concludes next week so make sure to catch up on the first two stylish horror films.  Fear Street Part One 1994 is an entertaining horror movie, with a 90s feel and soundtrack, great blood and gore, and some modern updates to start this exciting trilogy.  Fear Street Part Two 1978 presents a summer camp slasher, with a similarly amazing soundtrack and style as the first movie, but with an increased body count.  For more information, check out the review!

Because You Need Your Marvel Fix: Black Widow (Theaters)

Sure I gave it a rental, but it is a Marvel movie in theaters that will entertain you and keep you from the heat.  Black Widow is an entertaining and funny Marvel movie that gives some background to one of the most popular Avengers while also providing an explosive summer blockbuster.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Poignant Tear Jerker: Our Friend (Amazon)
Our Friend is a poignant, painful, and powerful movie about love, family, and friendship that feels so real and raw and should not be missed.  For more information, check out the review!

For the Fan of Teenage Dramas: Words on Bathroom Walls (Amazon)

Words on Bathroom Walls portrays a complicated illness through strong performances and good lessons about family, love, growth, and pain.  For more information, check out our review!

For A Dark and Quirky Comedy: French Exit (Redbox)

The dry, dark comedic style, wonderful dialogue, and quirky cast of characters fueled by Pfeiffer's magnetic performance make French Exit a film worth staying for.  For more information, check out the review!

What to Watch This Weekend: The Knot (Uljhan), French Exit, Nina Wu, Luz, The Oak Room, Drive All Night, Our Friend, Concrete Cowboy

For A Subtle, Realistic Look At A Changing World: The Knot (Uljhan) (Virtual Cinema)
The Knot explores class structure, hierarchy, and a changing India through an unfortunate accident and the differing attitudes of its well realized characters.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Dark and Quirky Comedy: French Exit (Theaters)

The dry, dark comedic style, wonderful dialogue, and quirky cast of characters fueled by Pfeiffer's magnetic performance make French Exit a film worth staying for.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Painful and Powerful Film About Success: Nina Wu (Virtual Cinema)

Nina Wu is a painful and powerful film, with a bold style and striking performances, telling a story that looks at the pressures and abuses to succeed in a cut throat industry.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Beautiful Life and Love Drama: Luz (Digital)

Luz breaks the mold and a lot of film conventions, portraying a complicated and beautiful Latino relationship with a slow burning story, supportive characters, and wonderful music.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Stylish and Engaging Story: The Oak Room (Digital)

The Oak Room will capture your attention with its evolving tales, great performances, and dark style; so grab a drink and settle in for an engaging, unconventional night.   For more information, check out the review!

For An 80s Noir Experience: Drive All Night (Digital)
Drive All Night has an 80s, video game, and noir inspiration, with bold colors, classic effects, and surreal sounds to keep you wondering during this wild night.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Powerful Friendship Drama: Our Friend (Redbox)
Our Friend is a poignant, painful, and powerful movie about love, family, and friendship that feels so real and raw and should not be missed.  For more information, check out the review!

For Some Uplifting Drama: Concrete Cowboy (Netflix)

Concrete Cowboy gets high marks for its old-fashioned uplifting story and look at a facet of American life that is not normally explored. 

French Exit Review: A Darkly Comedic and Quirky Family Affair

Release date: April 2, 2021
Running time: 114 minutes
Cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Lucas Hedges, Valerie Mahaffey, Imogen Poots
Director: Azazel Jacobs

“My plan was to die before the money ran out,” says 60-year-old penniless Manhattan socialite Frances Price (Michelle Pfeiffer), but things didn’t go as planned. Her husband Franklin has been dead for 12 years and with his vast inheritance gone, she cashes in the last of her possessions and resolves to live out her twilight days anonymously in a borrowed apartment in Paris, accompanied by her directionless son Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) and a cat named Small Frank—who may or may not embody the spirit of Frances’s dead husband.

French Exit is a strange film, but the strangeness is a large part of its charm.  The movie has a decidedly dark, dry sense of humor that will bring a smile to your face the moment after you cringe.  And this is sold by the fantastic cast, particlularly Michelle Pfeiffer.  She is magnetic as the socialite Frances Price, with a quirky character that does so many unnatural things while making them seem perfectly normal.  I loved her character's strange mannerisms, quirks, and the unapologetic view of life.  Pfeiffer brings so much to this role; she fully emobodies Frances and her charming, cunning, and conniving personality.  Pfeiffer controls every scene she is in and thankfully that is most of them.  I just couldn't get enough of her character!  Lucas Hedges is also enjoyable as her son Malcolm, although he has a decidedly less quirky character.  He does have to deal with his mother's strange activities and outbursts, and Hedges is the perfect foil to Pfeiffer.  Much more reserved but also quite enjoyable to see, the pair have a great chemistry and a wonderful comfort on screen.  

And although these actors bring some amazing performances, they are fueled by this sharp, witty, and dark script.  I love the dialogue and kept wanting to hear more.  The frank conversations that Frances and Malcolm have, as well as the enjoyable and blunt discussion with other characters really propel this film forward.  And on top of the great dialogue, the film also has fantastic cinematography.  The shot choice and placement of the camera are perfect, and the film has a lot of slow pan shots that give you a sense of the French part of the French Exit while also highlighting important details to the viewer.

The story of French Exit goes is a slow burning one.  Like a great play, the film doesn't have a lot of action, mostly consisting of conversations between the various characters that come in and out of Frances and Malcolm's lives.  The majority of the film takes place in Frances's borrowed apartment, with forays into the city.  And the film also goes to some strange places, but I loved following it there.  It has a little bit of mysticism, some relationship drama, and a  whole lot of charm. And these stranger parts of the story allow for some additional characters to enter the film.  However, although I really loved pretty much everything about this film and it's quirky set of characters, it did feel like there could be some more diversity in the cast.  

The dry, dark comedic style, wonderful dialogue, and quirky cast of characters fueled by Pfeiffer's magnetic performance make French Exit a film worth staying for.

Watch it.

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French Exit is available in theaters nationwide on April 2, 2021.  For showtimes, click here. 

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