Review by John Delia
A gut wrenching suspense thriller, the film No Exit makes the audience spectators of a terrifying situation. With very good acting, direction and a perfectly twisted storyline this movie is faultless for fans that like to be stumped. Filled with surprises, No Exit shows the brilliance of novelist Taylor Adams from whose book, “No Exit”, the film was screen written.
Admitted to a court ordered rehab facility because of her drug addiction and crimes related to obtaining drugs, Darby Thome (Havana Rose Liu) still has doubts about being there. At an evening group therapy session she gets a call from her sister that their mother has been admitted to the hospital with a serious life threatening condition. This sets into motion her escape from the facility, a blizzard situation on the highway forcing her to wait it out at a visitor’s center, and her discovery of a young girl chained in the back of a van.
Director Damien Power does a very creative job of developing the very imaginative script. He gives his audience just enough background on his main character to let his them decide if she is worthy of being a heroin before setting her loose as the protagonist. Then, he sets up a blizzard closing the road between her and her mother causing her to take shelter. Still hopeful, Darby takes refuge in the small building with other stranded persons. There we learn more about Sandy (Dale Dickey), Ed (Dennis Haysbert), Ash (Danny Ramirez) and Lars (David Rysdahl).
Now that the scenes are all set, Power unleashes his most explosive bit of information, a young child chained inside one of the vehicles in the snow covered parking lot. The cast is up to the challenge and they give stellar performances that make the terror filled script work. As the young woman under pressure from trying to avoid her addiction to drugs and then put her character in a position to try and help the imprisoned child, Havana Rose Liu owns the film.
No Exit has been rated R by the MPAA for strong violence, language and some drug content. I like the mystery and the brilliant way Director Damien Power delivers his story so wildly crafty. The twists you’ll never see coming and the set-ups that are brilliant make this film 4 out of 5 stars. Target audience for the film are thriller fans 17+.
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Havana Rose Liu, Danny Ramirez, David Rysdahl, Mila Harris and Dennis Haysbert
Directed by: Damien Power
Genre: Suspense, Thriller
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, language and some drug content
Running Time: approximately 1 hr. 30 min.
Opening Date: February 25, 2022
Released in: Hulu