After hearing the news that her mother is dying, a young woman (Darby, played by Havana Rose Liu) escapes the rehab centre that she has been ordered to stay in, steals a car, and drives many miles to visit her in hospital. Unfortunately, a strong blizzard makes it impossible to complete her journey, leading to Darby having to shelter at an isolated building with four strangers. And then, while trying to find a spot where she can get a signal on her phone, she discovers a young kidnap victim in the back of a van. It's then up to Darby to save the girl, figure out who the kidnapper is, and keep herself alive.
Directed by Damien Power, only his second feature after the very good Killing Ground, this is a superior bit of entertainment, helped by the script from Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari (adapting a novel by Taylor Adams). Everything is set up nicely throughout, from character relationships to the layout of the building, and there are some enjoyable twists and turns on the way to a third act that includes some great payoffs. This is polished entertainment, but it also isn't afraid to include a moment or two of real, painful, nastiness.
The cast helps a lot. Liu is excellent in the lead role, giving us a young woman who can dig deep down to find extra reserves of strength as she starts to face dangers that equal increasingly insurmountable odds of her surviving the night. Dennis Haysbert and Dale Dickey are the older couple stranded by the weather, and both do very well individually, as well as working perfectly with one another. Haysbert, in particular, is someone I'd love to see in more movie roles. David Rysdahl is okay, portraying a character defined by his shiftiness and jittery manner (so he's either bad or an overdone red herring), and Danny Ramirez is Ash, a young man who seems nice, but also could be a prime suspect . . . because it has to be someone. Mila Harris plays the child who has been kidnapped, and she does just as well as anyone else onscreen, although she has the least amount of screentime from the selection of main characters.
Although the main premise feels enjoyably unique, compared to so many other thrillers from the past few years, No Exit also has a feeling of familiarity throughout. From the struggling addict who may not always trust themselves to make good decisions to the crucial indecisiveness of someone who may not be able to kill others, even if it is necessary to avoid being sent to jail, this is a film that manages to make those elements feel fresh by placing them within the context of the revamped "whodunnit?" framework. Mixing the isolation with a very limited number of main suspects increases the feeling of danger for our lead, and not paring things down TOO much saves it from becoming repetitive and boring.
Maybe not one with much rewatchability, No Exit is simply a well-crafted thriller that should please most people. And the fact that the runtime is a nice 95 minutes makes it easier to slot into your viewing schedule.
7/10
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