Golden Exits is a 2017 drama film written, co-produced and directed by Alex Ross Perry. Starring Emily Browning, Adam Horovitz, Mary Louise Parker, Jason Schwartzman, Chloë Sevigny and Analeigh Tipton, it explores relationships and social constrictions.
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2017. It was released on February 9, 2018, by Stage 6 Films and Vertical Entertainment.
Plot
Two families who live and work on the east side of the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn are interrupted by the arrival of Naomi, a 25-year-old Australian intern with connections to both families. Golden Exits explores the relationships among the characters, and the effect Naomi’s presence has on them. Both Nick and Buddy consider a range of possible relationships with Naomi, which Alyssa and Jess are aware of to some extent. Gwen and Sam are affected as well, as the concerns and anxieties of each of their sisters brings in to relief their feeling about being married vs. being single. Naomi – ‘a disruptive force, an obscure object of desire, a symbol of lost youth and possibility’ – is completely aware of all of this as well as what she wants from the situation, and she acts accordingly.
Besides the threat of the extra-marital affair, the oppressive continuity of family is a recurring theme.
Another struggle Golden Exits focuses on is the anxiety and insecurity of the characters, particular to this age of social media, in which everyone’s peers are almost certainly living better lives by comparison. As Perry puts it, “‘I didn’t have a master plan, but I had some ideas, and now I’m just kind of confused because it feels like the last three years have just kind of slipped away.”
The name of the film refers to the desire that Sam has of experiencing optimal exits from one’s relationships – exits that are never possible with inescapable family. Naomi’s exit out of New York and the lives of the other characters at the end of her internship concludes the film, via conversations between Nick and Alyssa, and Buddy and Jess – re-knitting their relationships back together.
Cast
Emily Browning as Naomi, a summer intern from Australia
Adam Horovitz as Nick, an archivist organizing his late father’s-in-law papers
Chloë Sevigny as Alyssa, Nick’s wife and business partner
Mary-Louise Parker as Gwendolyn, Alyssa’s sister
Lily Rabe as Sam, Gwendolyn’s assistant
Jason Schwartzman as Buddy, a recording studio owner whose mom was a college friend with Naomi’s mom
Analeigh Tipton as Jess, Buddy’s wife and Sam’s sister
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