Hulu’s latest release, No Exit, is a survival drama based on Taylor Adams’ 2017 novel of the same name. The film is directed by Damien Power with the screenplay for the film written by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari and produced by PGA award-winning Scott Frank, who we already know for the famous Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit.
The cast for the film includes Havana Rose Liu as Darby Thorne, serving as the protagonist with Mila Harris as Jay, Danny Ramirez as Ash, David Rysdahl as Lars, Dennis Haysbert as Ed and Dale Dickey as Sandi. There is also Benedict Wall as Officer Ron Hill and Kirsty Hamilton as Sarah in the film. The runtime for the film is 1 hour 35 minutes.
– No Exit Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
No Exit: How Far Would You Go to Do What’s Right?
No Exit starts with the audience getting a sneak peek into where our protagonist comes from. Havana Rose Liu’s Darby is in a rehab centre, trying to get clean for the seventh time when she gets a panicked call, informing her about a brain aneurysm her mother has suffered. Darby contacts her sister Devon to bail her out of rehab, so she can meet their mother but it is no help as Devon is cold and does not want Darby’s presence during such a delicate time. This leads Darby to break out of rehab and make her way to Salt Lake City.
As a blizzard strengthens, it gets difficult for Darby to make the journey which is when she stops at a centre that has been opened up for stranded passengers to stay until the storm passes. With four people already on board- Sandi, Ed, Ash and Lars, Darby soon discovers that one of the snow-capped vehicles outside is holding a child as a hostage. Determined to save the kidnapped girl, Darby treads very carefully with the conversations trying to figure out who she can trust and, who is ultimately the culprit.
Will Darby be able to help the victim and survive this dangerous game without getting caught? Or, will she submerge herself in claustrophobia and isolation and be caught by the kidnapper? And, most importantly, who is the guilty one out of the crowd? Hulu’s latest thriller takes a quick 1 hour 30 minutes to set the record straight while simultaneously giving us the perfect mix of a haunted whodunit.
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No Exit is suspenseful and has just the right tone to get you invested from the start. It does not exaggerate itself with a mysterious background score but, the actors have this facade of being known and unknown at the same time serving us a dicey plot of who we should actually root for. The cinematography is definitely something that stands out in this film. From the snow to the low lights, everything makes the experience of watching the film all the more fulfilling.
The only drawback No Exit has is the lack of emotional depth in the characters. Given how short the runtime is and how the story is actually being told over the course of one fateful night, this is something that commonly happens in films. However, No Exit movie does try to delve deeper into the psyche of our protagonist Darby, but somewhere between the run-for-life and bloodshed, it remains half assessed by the end of the film.
No Exit: Final Verdict
Overall, No Exit is a really interesting thriller. It does the right surprises and raises the stakes as high as it can get. The film also never lags with its pace, making it an easy and fun watch to catch at any point in time. Nonetheless, if you are someone who is looking for some complex analysis of human actions and interactions, this might not be the pick for you.
You can watch the film No Exit now streaming on Hulu.
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