Golden Exits review: Alex Ross Perry writes and directs this tale of two families whose lives are affected when a young Australian woman on an extended visit comes into their lives.
Golden Exits review by Paul Heath at the 2017 Berlin Film Festival.
Golden Exits review
Golden Exits starts very much like The Dinner, another film premiering at this year’s Berlinale, where a couple are preparing for a dinner party. Luckily that’s where the similarities between Perry’s sweet indie and Oren Moverman’s Richard Gere starrer end. This couple in question is Nick (Adam Horovitz) and his wife Aly (Chloe Sevigny), who are hosting Aly’s sister Gwen (Mary-Louise Parker) for the evening in heir own home. The big talking point at this dinner though is the extra guest Naomi (Emily Browning), a young twenty-something who is visiting New York to gain life experience abroad. Nick has hired Naomi as his assistant for a couple of months to help him sift through family documents for archiving. Her introduction at the dinner sets off a chain of events, including the immediate doubting of Nick’s intentions by Aly, something not helped by the gossiping and stirring of her loyal sister. Down the road, as this film is set well within a square mile of 1990s Brooklyn, there’s sound guy Jason Schwartzman who knew Naomi in the past and offers to meet up as soon as he discovers that she is visiting from Australia. Again, Naomi’s presence upsets the balance of his relationship with his young wife.
Golden Exits is indeed a very small, thought-provoking picture, but very well-written and skillfully directed by Perry; his sixth feature. The film very much captures three different age ranges; Naomi in her mid-twenties, Schwartzman and Analeigh Tipton‘s Buddy and Jess in their thirties, and the slightly older characters played by Horovitz and Sevigny in their forties. They are all connected and affected in some way by Browning’s foreign entity, a person who doesn’t do much wrong, but her presence is enough to affect those around her. Perry explores this very well throughout, the film very unpredictable throughout using a very unsensational, though utterly intensely interesting narrative.
The thing that grabs you immediately is its look. It seems to be shot on low-grade film stock and has that very old-school feel about it, which is to its aid, and instantly sets up its stylistic intentions. The camera work is very non-flashy, but the unremarkable imagery is subtly backed by a superb piano score from Keegan DeWitt, and of course works brilliantly. The acting is spot-on, particularly from original Beastie Boy Adam Horowitz, his sometimes sleazy and troubled Nick played to absolute perfection.
As opposed to The Dinner, which we watched previously to this, a film that also shares co-star Sevigny, the characters are largely likeable and one can relate to at least one of them. The story is engrossing throughout, avoids too much naval gazing and leaves the viewer extremely fulfilled after embarking on this small journey with all involved. Hugely impressive, absorbing cinema.
Golden Exits review by Paul Heath, February 2017.
Golden Exits plays in the Forum section of the Berlinale 2017.
