The first reviews for Wes Anderson’s new film The French Dispatch are in – scroll down to read the reactions.
The film, described as a love letter to journalists, premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival today (July 12) ahead of its public release later this year.
Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Timothée Chalamet, Tilda Swinton, Elisabeth Moss and more star in the film, which follows an anthology format to tell several stories set in 19th century France.
Many critics praised the film’s visual style, with Variety‘s Peter Debruge saying “every costume, prop and casting choice has been made with such a reverential sense of absurdity” and IndieWire‘s Eric Kohn calling the film “an endearing and liberated explosion of Andersonian aesthetics”.
The Telegraph praised the film’s story, calling it “a hymn to human curiosity and compulsions” and praising the script as “a relentless hoot”.
Check out some more social media reactions to The French Dispatch here:
THE FRENCH DISPATCH: Wes Anderson at his most visually inventive and least emotionally involving. anthologies will do that to ya. starts strong (Jacques Tati! Dirty Tilda! Benicio doing the mr fox growl a lot), peters out as it goes. fun enough to be worthy of an editor’s burial.
— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) July 12, 2021
The French Dispatch: an exhilarating, overwhelming caper (in a good way). Visually bombastic with a script as whip fast as His Girl Friday. In need of many encores. The kind of film you want to jump into Sherlock Jr style. #Cannes2021 pic.twitter.com/ZepGDTbyJg
— Isabel Stevens (@IsStevens) July 12, 2021
The French Dispatch is a flood of words and details, you can be overwhelmed or just go with it and get swept away. This is a pretty big statement but it's the best-looking film Wes Anderson has ever made; mixing black-and-white, animation, pastels, miniatures, and even sexuality.
— Brian Formo is at #Cannes (@BrianFormo) July 12, 2021
THE FRENCH DISPATCH might be Wes Anderson’s most eye-popping, visually stunning film yet. The production design is out of this world. I didn’t get much out of the story or characters at all. But it’s still so amusing and fun to watch. #Cannes2021 pic.twitter.com/F0g9a64DPM
— The Cannes Expert (@expert_oscar) July 12, 2021
THE FRENCH DISPATCH: a delectable tribute to journalism. packs so many intricate and eccentric details into the milieu of ennui-sur-blasé that it’s almost overwhelming (not in a bad way). it’s a wes anderson film – of course it’s fantastic #cannes2021
— iana murray
(@ianamurray) July 12, 2021
Meanwhile, Owen Wilson recently described the film as “so original and unique” and praised the storyline featuring Benicio Del Toro and Léa Seydoux as his favourite.
The actor also stars in the film, alongside Frances McDormand, Saoirse Ronan and others.
The French Dispatch is due to be released in US cinemas on October 2022. A UK release date is yet to be confirmed.
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