Azael Jacobs' ‘French Exit’ To Close Out NYFF 2020

A hotshot NYC-based producer had told me a few weeks back to watch out for this year’s New York Film Festival which, he said, “would blow away any lineup by Telluride, Toronto or Venice.” Well, an additional piece of the puzzle has been added today by the NYFF as they have announced that Azazel Jacobs’ “French Exit” will make its world premiere as the closing night selection of the upcoming festival. Jacobs’ film joins this 58th edition’s opening night (Steve McQueen’s “Lovers Rock”) and centerpiece films (Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland”).

I will be covering NYFF again this year, albeit remotely, with the event combining a brand-new virtual presence with carefully designed outdoor screenings, including two drive-ins. Specific dates and ticketing details will follow in the coming weeks. The full main slate and schedule for the 58th New York Film Festival will also be announced in the coming weeks (go down below for my predictions).

Per the official synopsis for “French Exit”:

The Sony Pictures Classics release stars Michelle Pfeiffer as the “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.”

“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 in an official statement. “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’ last two films (“Terri” and “The Lovers”) were quite impressive, not enough people talk about this talented filmmaker, but “French Exit” could prove to be the breakout he needs to finally enter the mainstream conversation.

As mentioned, Jacobs’ film joins the Steve McQueen and Chloe Zhao premiere, but what else will play at NYFF’s 58th edition? There have been hints here and there about what could be part of this year’s lineup, but with a pandemic currently going on, it will all depend on studios’ willingness to play loosely with the rules and allow their films to screen digitally and/or at Drive-ins. Don’t expect Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” to make an appearance, that title will likely wait for Berlin or beyond, but do look out for these potential films to be announced by the end of the month:

Ammonite (Francis Lee)
Nomadland (Chloe Zhao)
The Woman Who Ran (Hong Sang-Soo)
Spring Blossoms (Suzanne Lindon)
Undine (Christian Petzoldt)
Notturno (Giorgio Bontempi)
Wife of a Spy (Kyoshi Kurosawa)
True Mothers (Naomi Kawase)
Mangrove (Steve McQueen)
Lover's Rock (Steve McQueen)
Red, White and Blue (Steve McQueen)
French Exit (Azael Jacobs)
The Truffle Hunters (Gregory Kershaw, Michael Dweck)
City Hall (Frederick Wiseman)
There is No Evil (Mohammad Rasoulof)
Dick Johnson is Dead (Kirsten Johnson)
New Order (Michel Franco)
Charltan (Agniezka Holland)
Another Round (Thomas Vinterberg)
Minari (Lee Isaac Chung)