The A.V. Club by Mike D'Angelo

Jacobs manages this controlled chaos with a dexterity and brittle artificiality that’s quite distinct from all of his previous films

The Film Stage by Michael Frank

French Exit easily could have been an unnecessary cliché. Instead, Jacobs’ film provides a polished portrait filled with originality, melancholy, and comedy.

RogerEbert.com by Christy Lemire

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.

Boston Globe by Ty Burr

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.

Washington Post by Ann Hornaday

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.

The Associated Press by Lindsey Bahr

It doesn’t always work, but the writing is sharp, the performers top-notch and the set designs achingly beautiful.

Variety by Peter Debruge

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.”

The Hollywood Reporter by Jon Frosch

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.

Los Angeles Times by Mark Olsen

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.

Arizona Republic by Bill Goodykoontz

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.

IndieWire by David Ehrlich

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.

Entertainment Weekly by Leah Greenblatt

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.

TheWrap by Steve Pond

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.

Slashfilm by Marshall Shaffer

The film does not waste the brilliance of its two leading performances. But it doesn’t expand much upon their skilled interpretations, either.

Slant Magazine by Chuck Bowen

In French Exit’s best passages, sadness and curt, resonant comedy exist side by side unceremoniously.

The A.V. Club by A.A. Dowd

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.

Consequence by Clint Worthington

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.

The Guardian by Benjamin Lee

A defiantly unbelievable and drably directed heap of quirk that’s as overstuffed as it is underpowered, a head-scratching failure for all involved.