The New York Film Festival just now unveiled the final selection of their annual big three titles, naming Azazel Jacobs’ French Exit as the 2020 incarnation of the fest’s Closing Night pick. We now know the festival’s Opener in Lovers Rock, Centerpiece in Nomadland, and Closer, so all that’s left is the Main Slate, which should be headed our way shortly. NYFF this year is going to be a lot different than in years past, with a huge focus on virtual screenings (as well as outdoor ones, apparently), along with many studios opting out of festival season for now, but still…this trio looks like something to reckon with. Read on for more… Here is part of the official press release: New York, NY (August 11, 2020) – Film at Lincoln Center announces Azazel Jacobs’s French Exit as Closing Night of the 58th New York Film Festival, making its World Premiere. In the film, Michelle Pfeiffer is entirely bewitching as Frances Price, an imperious, widowed New York socialite whose once-extreme wealth has dwindled down to a nub. Facing insolvency, she makes the decision to escape the city by cruise ship and relocate to her friend’s empty Paris apartment with her dyspeptic son, Malcolm (Lucas Hedges), and their mercurial cat, Small Frank (voiced by Tracy Letts). There, Frances and Malcolm reckon with their pasts and plan for an impossible future, all while their social circle expands in unexpected and increasingly absurdist ways. This adaptation of the best-selling novel by Patrick deWitt is a rare American film of genuine eccentricity, elegantly directed by Azazel Jacobs (The Lovers), and featuring a brilliant performance of stylish severity by Pfeiffer, whose every intonation is a wonder to behold. A Sony Pictures Classics release. “We’ve been watching New York filmmaker Azazel Jacobs for more than a decade, since his film Momma’s Man screened in our New Directors/New Films festival in 2008,” said New York Film Festival Director Eugene Hernandez. “Now, we’re honored that he’ll make his NYFF debut with Closing Night selection French Exit, a tour-de-force collaboration with Michelle Pfeiffer that we can’t wait to share with audiences in NYC and beyond.” “Jacobs is one of the most distinctive voices in American cinema, and it’s a thrill to see him working with new registers and tones in his most ambitious film yet,” said Dennis Lim, New York Film Festival Director of Programming. “It’s rare to encounter a […]