Streaming Service: Hulu
Movie Name/Year: No Exit (2022)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Length: 95 minutes
Rating: R
Production/Distribution: 20th Century Studios,
Flitcraft, Hulu, Disney+
Director: Damien Power
Writer: Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari, Taylor Adams
Actors: Havana Rose Liu, Danny Ramirez, David Rysdahl, Mila Harris,
Dennis Haysbert, Dale Dickey, Benedict Wall
Blurb from IMDb: During a blizzard and
stranded at an isolated highway rest stop in the mountains, a college student
discovers a kidnapped child hidden in a car belonging to one of the people
inside.
Selina’s Point of View:
I hadn’t heard
about the release of
No Exit, it just appeared on Hulu one day. It was a
random pick when I added it to the schedule. Hulu needs to do better at marketing
their original films, because this one isn’t going to be seen by nearly as many
people as it should be.
Everything about
this movie defied expectations.
Obviously, I do
try to go into everything I watch with an open mind. But, like most people, I’m
a victim of my biases. After watching enough films, it becomes easy to see
commonalities that almost force expectation. What I saw here was an early movie
from a lesser-known director that had a couple of recognizable faces, but no
marketing at all. To me, that said Hulu was giving a director a shot, but didn’t
have faith in it. I’ll admit, I settled in for a flick I thought would be a
trainwreck.
I was wrong.
Not only was
No
Exit amazing, but director Damien Power (
Killing Ground, Peekaboo, To Be)
showed off the kind of talent that has created household names. I’m going to be
following his career very closely from here on out.
There was nothing
to dislike here. If I had to be overly critical, I would say that I didn’t love
David Rysdahl’s (
Nine Days, The Land of Owls, Dead Pigs) character. I thought
he was a bit overdone, but even that turned out to not be an issue. By the end,
it made sense for the story.
Speaking of the
story, the writing was exceptional as well. I hit a point about 20-minutes in
where I was resigned to the belief that
No Exit was going to be a
basic-bitch flick. After all, I’d already predicted everything that was
happening. I leaned back in my chair, crossed my arms, and made a snarky note
in my book. No one can say that the writer(s) didn’t know the minds of their
target audience, though, because about 5-minutes later I realized they’d lured
me into thinking that on purpose.
I don’t know
whether to credit screenwriters Andrew Barrer (
Die in a Gunfight, Ant-Man
and the Wasp, Haunt) and Gabriel Ferrari (
Die in a Gunfight, Ant-Man and
the Wasp, Quantum and Woody) with all that, or the novel’s author, Taylor
Adams. I haven’t read the book, so I don’t know what parts of the story were
altered for the screen. I’m just going to send out a general ‘hell yeah’ to
them all.
I’m also going to
take a trip to the store, because I need to get this book.
No
Exit destroyed every
expectation I could have had and reminded me to keep my biases out of it.
Cat’s Point of View:
I was excited to
see
No Exit.
Havana Rose Liu (
Mayday,
The Chair, The Sky Is Everywhere) played such a relatable character for me.
There have definitely been times in my life I was ‘over it’ when faced with
working on my own issues. I could feel her desperation to respond to her family
crisis. It provided a steady undercurrent of tension below the other events
within the movie.
No
Exit swept me along
on this wild ride and didn’t pump the brakes. Just when I thought things were
heading in one direction, the story threw in twists that blindsided me.
It was also a
treat to have Dale Dickey (
Winter's Bone, Super 8, Blood Father) and
Dennis Haysbert (
The Unit, Fist Fight, Lucifer) among the cast. They
were excellent choices for their roles and definitely helped elevate this
production.
No
Exit took good
advantage of the snowy setting. The remote and decrepit visitor’s center felt
sufficiently isolated. I had no trouble suspending disbelief.
The credits for
No
Exit mentioned that this film is a book adaptation. I might just put this
one on my ever-expanding to-read list. I really enjoyed the story that was
brought to the screen. I’m intrigued as to whether there’s more to the tale
that just didn’t fit in the runtime.
If you have a
subscription to Hulu,
No Exit is an excellent choice for a movie night
in. Bundle up with a warm beverage and don’t forget to breathe.
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 58%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 56%
Metascore – 54%
Metacritic User Score – 6.6
IMDB Score – 6.1/10
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4.5/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5
Movie Trailer:
