No Exit (I) (2022) User Reviews

So the director, writers and lead are all newbs?! Wow, bravo! 👏👏🙌

[Top_Dawg_Critic · 9/10 · 28 February 2022]

This film is Damien Power's second full length feature film as director, with only a handful of prior short films, and he does impress. His directing behind the camera, as well as directing his cast, is near perfect. This felt like a seasoned Hollywood pro directed it.

Then you have newb writers Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari who gave us a suspensefully paced cohesive screenplay with lots of thrills, twists, action and suspense. Sure, maybe they weren't the crazy Hollywood-type thrills, but this toned down thriller felt very realistic.

The cinematography and score were excellent - also very surprising for a low budget B film. All casting and performances were spot-on, especially newb actress Havana Rose Liu in her only sixth-ever acting role, who nailed the emotional and painful scenes towards the end like a pro. It was also good to see our "safe drivers save 40 percent" Allstate dude, Dennis Haysbert.

This film is a great Saturday night popcorn flick, and am shocked how some critics slammed it, especially when it was such a well put-together low budget amateur production. It's a very deserving 8.5 rounded up to a 9/10 from me.

Suspenseful and not afraid to make some big moves

[jtindahouse · 8/10 · 25 February 2022]

These are the kind of movies I wish were being made more often. Grounded thrillers, with twists galore and a solid R rating that they aren't afraid to use to its full potential. They're just so much fun to watch.

The suspense in this movie is top-drawer. From the moment a certain event happens we are captivated and the film never releases us. It is relentlessly fast paced. This is 95 minutes that are going to go by very quickly for you.

The film surprised me with how brutal it was willing to be in certain parts. There are no half measures taken. It never feels excessive or gratuitous though. Just doing what the story demands to be done and keeping us on the edge of our seat.

The only thing that let it down a little was the ending. I find films like this often struggle in the wrapping up phase. Everything to that point had been going pretty realistically and made sense. The ending just goes off the rails a little. It's nothing to ruin the film, it just would've been nice to keep the momentum it had going right until the finish.

Nonetheless I had a very good time with 'No Exit'. It's my kind of movie and it's one I would highly recommend. 8/10.

A solid thriller featuring a breakout performance by Havana Rose Liu

[IonicBreezeMachine · 7/10 · 25 February 2022]

Darby Thorne (Havana Rose Liu) is a troubled young woman reluctantly in court mandated rehab in Sacramento, California. Darby is alerted her mother has suffered a brain aneurysm and is now in the hospital but her doctor is unavailable to sign off any outside communication or furlough. Out of desperation Darby steals one of the facility workers vehicles intent on driving to Salt Lake City to visit her mother in the hospital despite her estrangement from her family who've made clear they don't want her there. Bad weather causes road closures and Darby is directed to the Muir's Rest visitors center where four others consisting of husband and wife Ed (Dennis Haysbert) and Sandi (Dale Dickey), and others Ash (Danny Ramirez) and Lars (David Rysdahl). As Darby tries in vain to get a signal in the parking lot, she comes across a beat up windowless ban where a child is bound and gagged in the back. Unable to dial 911, Darby must now figure out who of the strangers she's stuck with is the abductor and survive the storm and the night.

No Exit is an adaptation of the 2017 novel of the same name by Taylor Adams. The film is directed by Damien Power whose previous effort was the well regarded 2016 horror film Killing Ground and written by scribes Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari whose previous credits include the MCU film Ant Man and the Wasp as well as the critically maligned Die in a Gunfight that while appearing on the annual Blacklist of best unproduced screenplays had a troubled production. No Exit takes a small scale premise and creates a suitably twisty and engaging thriller.

Havana Rose Liu fantastic in the lead as Darby Thorne and this is Liu's first time playing a lead having done a handful of supporting work before this. We get some solid moments of Liu dealing with her past trauma and showing sides of acerbic cynicism and emotional vulnerability and with the more physically challenging bits that come through later in the film I really feel this could be a star making performance for Liu and can't wait to see what's next for her. The movie being a limited location piece is predicated upon having a strong supporting cast and we get that with an eclectic bunch of character actors making up those at the rest stop with reliable stapes like the always welcome Dennis Haysbert and Dale Dickey as well as strong relatively newish actors like Danny Ramirez and David Rysdahl. Damien Power shows a solid handling of this type of limited location thriller with solid establishment of the Visitors Center and its surrounding locales and you feel the bitterness of the cold, the oppressiveness of the isolation, and tension and unease of the group with every moment.

The script by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari is taut and well-paced with character, situation, and stakes effectively established while keeping the audience on edge. For the most part the movie is framed from Darby's point of view so we're very much in her shoes as she's trapped in this building in the middle of nowhere with no way out. The story is suitably twisty with solid revelations and reversals as expected for a movie of this ilk, but I wasn't completely sold on one revelation towards the third act. Admittedly it wasn't a "breaker" for me personally but it felt like the movie overextended itself a bit in how certain things were connected but your mileage may vary.

No Exit is a solid thriller anchored by a breakout lead from Havana Rose Liu as Darby Thorne, with a strong supporting cast and strong sense of isolation and unease created by director Damien Power from a taut well-paced script by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, No Exit makes for some good thrills that don't let up until the end. The movie doesn't quite stick the landing with one of its revelations (for me personally anyway) but aside from that one point I was actively engaged by No Exit and recommend it highly.

A quick thriller with a game performance from Havana Rose Liu

[adotson-98233 · 7/10 · 26 February 2022]

"No Exit" is a quick, fast paced 95 minutes that features a good story and a great lead performance.

What I liked about this movie is of course as I said the lead. Havana Rose Liu is great in this movie. She gets to shine a lot here. All the other performances too are mostly pretty good. The movie is very fast paced. It's gets to the plot very quick The story I also really like. It defiantly takes inspiration from other movies, but it's intriguing enough. There's some really great tension in the final 20 minutes of the movie. And finally I like how at times they presented some of the twists. It was actually kinda shocking.

Now this isn't an amazing movie and it does have its issues. It is derivative of some other thrillers. The movie isn't as intense as I wanted it to be. I think there could've been a little more tension, and finally the movie kinda just abruptly ended and it just felt like the movie didn't know how to end.

Overall despite being a little derivative of other movies, "No Exit" is a quick, fast paced thriller with a great lead performance, and enough intrigue to keep you interested.

Isolation thriller that keeps you on edge until the end.

[cruise01 · 7/10 · 4 March 2022]

3.5 out of 5 stars.

No Exit is a pretty fair thriller film about a recovering drug addict Darby (Havana Rose Liu). After discovering that her mom is in the hospital. She escapes the rehab center and gets caught in a blizzard storm in a rest stop visitors center with four other strangers. Being stuck in the storm. She finds out there is a kidnapped girl in one of there vans. Trying to piece together who is the suspect and who she can trust. While trying to save the girl.

One of those isolation thrillers where Darby plays cat and mouse with trying to signal for help and rescue the girl. While trying to avoid being a victim herself. Good cast ensemble and acting. Entertaining thriller that keeps you on the edge. Not really much of a plot. And a thin script with the other characters besides learning one is a military vet. And the other is a nurse.

No Exit

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 3 March 2022]

No Exit is a schlocky thriller that too often sinks into lapses of logic.

Darby (Havana Rose Liu) is a recovering addict in a rehab clinic. When Darby receives news that her mother is seriously ill, she breaks out but is forced off the road due to a blizzard.

At a visitors centre where she is forced to stop. Darby stumbles on a bound girl inside a van. She has been kidnapped.

Darby needs to figure which of the four people inside the centre has kidnapped the girl.

This could had been a decent but mindless thriller. Unfortunately some of the twists fail to shock.

The final third of the movie is overblown as it descends into gory violence.

Did a good enough job.

[wareeshaahmed · 6/10 · 4 March 2022]

What was supposed to be a horror movie turned into a crime scene pretty quick. The typical "don't judge a book by it's cover" is the theme of the movie.

With a 1.5 hour runtime, the movie doesn't beat around the bush and gets to the point pretty quick - another pro.

Predictable but Entertaining

[koltonbrett · 6/10 · 26 February 2022]

No Exit has nothing new to see, but it's still entertaining. The scenario of being stranded at a rest stop overnight with a kidnapper is suspenseful. Not knowing at first who the kidnapper is creates a nice element of mystery and let's us play detective for a little while. The story is pretty predictable as it tries to be unpredictable with some twists. It's full of clichés and the stereotypical characters are not extremely interesting but they serve their purpose. Though this horror/thriller contains some blood and violence, it shouldn't be more than the average thriller fan can handle. While nothing feels fresh here, it's not a hard movie to sit through. It's a simple, low budget thriller that moves fast enough to keep us entertained. It holds an obvious low opinion of white people which doesn't do it any favors.

At times surprisingly effective kidnapping drama

[paul-allaer · 6/10 · 22 March 2022]

As "No Exit" (2022 release; 95 min.) opens, we are introduced to Darby, a young woman who is in rehab. When Darby learns that her mother has gone to the hospital, Darby makes her escape and steals a car. Alas, there is a blizzard coming and Darby must shelter in a remote visitors center with 4 other stranded people... At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is directed by Damien Power (in just his 2nd feature length). Here he brings Taylor Adams' novel of the same name onto the screen. I can't tell for sure, but this has all the feelings of a COVID-19 production: almost the entire movie plays out in a single location (the Visitors Center), and with a small cast. The initial 30 minutes are a bit slow, but then the movie finds a second gear, so to speak, and really kicks in. This movie is super plot-heavy so the less said, the better. All but one of the cast were no-names to me. The only one I recognized was Dennis Haysbert. Bottom line: this isn't going to get any awards nominations, but I quite enjoyed my time with this.

"No Exit" was originally intended to be released in theaters, but resulting from the COVID mess, it got delayed and delayed and then finally pulled from the schedule altogether. It recently started airing on Hulu, where I caught it the other night. If you are in the mood for a scary kidnapping drama/thriller, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Starts off strong, but quickly falls flat on it's face

[chacewhite · 4/10 · 25 February 2022]

This movie starts off strong with an interesting whodunnit premise centered around our main character who we get just enough backstory to care about. Not a single other character is given but a few minutes of dialogue to flesh them out so you end up not really caring about anyone else or what happens to them. The pacing was all over the place and there's really not enough that happens to justify a 90 minute movie.

Very early on we switch genres from whodunnit mystery to mostly straight up thriller which I found disappointing and kind of boring. The description of this movie is very misleading and I think it will leave a lot of folks disappointed because it does not match the movie I watched. It's worth checking out if you consume a lot of movie media and are looking to watch something you haven't seen, but it's very average.

No Exit

[henry8-3 · 7/10 · 27 February 2022]

A recovering drug addict played by Havana Rose Liu, travelling to see her dying mother hits a storm and has to stay the night at a visitor centre with 4 others. She finds a young girl in the back of a van tied up and clearly kidnapped - how does she save the girl when she doesn't know who she can trust.

Very exciting, quite brutal and bloody and well acted thriller, especially by Liu and a film to be commended for fitting so much into just 95 minutes. There are plenty of twists and turns, one frankly, I wasn't keen on, all leading to an impressively tense climax. Well worth catching.

Note: This is one of those movies that is filmed in such darkness that it does niggle. I even thought I saw the film flip a couple of times to brighten the picture?

Gave it away too early

[baunacholi-86159 · 6/10 · 9 April 2022]

A well paced and solid thriller. Builds up nicely tension & atmosphere but revealed -for my taste- too much too early. Suspense was exchanged from this point on with rather standard shooting etc.

Very Good

[gab-67599 · 8/10 · 25 February 2022]

In the beginning I didn't really expect much from this movie but it surprised me. A suspenseful drama that kept me wondering what would happen next. I did have trouble feeling bad for the little girl after they showed how she really was. But all the actors in this one gave 100% and were completely believable. Only one real predictable part in the movie really. Also didn't really over do it with the blood. Just the right amount to be expected out of a tasteful movie. I love how the title of the movie went right along with it, not as if any of them could just exit out of a storm.

Solid thriller

[Floated2 · 6/10 · 2 April 2022]

Had no expectations or knowledge of this film and didn't know of the novel it is based on. Solely based on the film, it is a decent enough thriller with some thrills but nothing too memorable. A lot of what occurs is vastly predictable including the criminals actions and the entire setup.

In the end what occurred is what we saw coming. Overall it was solid enough for a one time watch, didn't drag on too much and had some thrills. The leading actress stands out and her character is given enough depth and backstory giving the audience a reason to care.

Basic

[Draysan-Jennings · 5/10 · 26 February 2022]

Nothing special here, just a basic mediocre film. Decent time killer but nothing to write home about. I guess if you cant find anything else to watch, give it a shot. 5 stars.

Watch the first 45 minutes, then turn it off.....

[jbrbsmom · 3/10 · 26 February 2022]

What starts out as a great movie for the first 45 minutes just becomes terrible.

What a fabulous beginning, though. A slow burn wild ride that has you guessing with creative plot twists and tension and fantastic acting.

Then it derails itself with implausibility after implausibility until you really just wonder what went wrong. A blizzard with less than an inch of snow so that everyone can drive...really...has nobody ever been in an actual blizzard? It ruins a movie for me to see people staggering around in the cold in a sweater for an hour without being bothered in the least. And no need for boots or gloves because getting cold during a blizzard just doesn't happen here.

And a nurse that moonlights as a maid? And we are to believe is degraded by being a maid? Well, how about keep your nursing day job?

The medical aspects are laughable, like when they mention keeping the girl calm or she will go into medical crisis and die. Well, she should have died 30 times over, because they never kept her calm and only medicated her one time during her long and highly excitable ordeal.

A white slave trade of critically ill children? What kind of kidnapping ring is that? When it was said that sending the very sick girl into a slave ring was more profitable than giving her to her extremely wealthy parents that were offering millions for her safe return, I fell out laughing. That was sort of the believability scale I am talking about here.

I WANTED to like this movie and I watch WAY too many movies like this. This one just didn't stack up, make sense or come together properly.

While the beginning has characters that are well thought out and keep their thoughts close to their chest and their motives keep you guessing, somewhere in the middle has everyone becoming a slightly psychotic thrill seeking blood thirsty killer on a murder spree. It is as if the second half of the movie was written by a totally different person who had a totally opposite agenda.

Gone is the finesse and dialogue and plot comprehension for a bloody mess of gore fest and non-sense and an ending where everyone is guilty of something until absolutely nothing makes coherent sense anymore. And the low budget is not lost on most of the graphics.

Most of the acting is quite good. So there were good things in here to say.

If it had just stayed along the lines of a tense mystery thriller, it would have been just fine.

it takes a turn, then takes another turn.. ended up in the same spot

[exlana · 6/10 · 12 November 2022]

During a blizzard, college girl stuck in this cabin with some strangers and find a kidnapped girl in a van. Then the college girl (and all the character) starts to made a string of poor choices. Shocking, i know. The general premise of No Exit though not groundbreaking, sounds interesting. At first glance, it seems like it's gonna be a whodunit mystery-thriller, but then things takes turns, and another turn and another, and another... you get what i'm saying. Good on paper, bad on practice. Though some of these turns are fun and bold, it makes this film messy.

You would think with all these 'plot twist' that the ending would be somewhat unpredictable, right? Wrong. The ending is as generic as it can get. Overall, No Exit has a very weak script, dull-cringeworthy-professional poor-decision-maker characters. I guess the highlight of this film is some of the gore are pretty gory... (ba dum tss), the acting is decent, the run time and the pace are adequate.

It's a mindless insomnia watch, but definitely skippable 5.8/10.

Get's worse as it goes on

[acj-65004 · 4/10 · 27 February 2022]

This movie started out as a solid 6 or 7, but just got worse the longer it went on. The last 20-30 minutes had some of the worst writing and character decision making I've ever seen in a movie. Yes, it was that bad. No idea how anyone could watch this all the way through and think it was 'clever' or well written. I can only assume that people giving this 7+ stars didn't finish watching the movie. The acting was decent and the overall production quality was ok as well, but that was about it.

A solid 5! Good for a Sunday Evening Watch

[mochteam · 5/10 · 7 March 2022]

I've read the reviews on this movie. Some are good and some are crazy and some or oddly racists. That being said it's hard to really get a scope on this film as it's ratings are all over the charts so I'll do my best.

This is a good movie. It's not a mind blowing movie, it's not even a movie you'd probably remember watching a year or two from now. It's just a good "fill the void" and be entertained for an hour or so kind of movie.

It's not really a mystery movie which is what I thought it would be it's more of a suspense/action thriller and that's what makes the movie sort of fall flat. It would have been great as a mystery that didn't get unveiled until the end as the main character tried to seek help for the girl while being unable to trust the company she was in (that's kind of what the trailer advertises) instead it's kind of this strange "Home Alone Wet Bandits" kind of thing where you have the main character trying to fend off/escape from some dopey kidnappers who are kind of screw ups.

The movie is short on the one thing it should be strong on and that's "mystery". The secret is revealed maybe 20 minutes in and after that it's an action movie. It's not a "predictable" where you'll be bored because you know what to expect but it's just as I said earlier the kidnappers are rather goofy and unintimidating so you don't every get a sense of "fear" or real danger from them.

Things do happen in this movie so no need to spoil it but it's kind of a forgetful movie in the end. In the long run I will remember this movie for having the Allstate Insurance guy in it who always made me feel like he was going to drop a line about affordable home and car insurance at any given time.

The movie also at points almost becomes an unintentional black comedy. I just don't know if it was meant to be that way or if it was because of the acting or what but there were scenes that were funny that probably weren't supposed to be funny yet it was still worth the laugh to me.

I also like that they used a 4th generation V6 Camaro in this movie that for some reason sounded like it had a V8 engine that was slightly amusing but I'm just a Camaro fan so I noticed that no big deal to make of it.

For me this movie sat in at a good 5/10 as an "average movie". It was a decent film and the acting was fitting for it but I know in the long run I'll forget I ever watched it.

GREAT movie !

[miroslavmilosevic-22770 · 7/10 · 26 February 2022]

Really good movie.

A simple yet strong story with a great cast and acting.

It's everything a thriller action drama little of horror.

I really enjoyed it. :) Twist and turns everywhere, not sure who to believe and who is a friend in this movie, really a good job.

Are you in need of assistance?

[begob · 8/10 · 28 February 2022]

To make it to the bedside of her dying mother, a rehab inmate flees captivity only to find more captivity and death in her path.

Cracking little thriller that pretty much sticks to the dramatic unities of time, place and action, with a couple of twists to throttle up the tension. The possibilities seem limited, but everything clicks into place with only mild concerns over plot holes, and the performances are spot on.

What really added flavour is that none of the characters is squeaky clean, each falling down on a spectrum of personal faults - even the cop in his final decision. Also some nice touches of irony, and no hiding the fact that this kind of scenario arises from a callous society.

The pacing and editing are perfect, filling out a long run time for a simple story. The music is generic but does its job without overwhelming, and the camera work is OK. The aerial shots on the road seem to be pure computer graphic, leaving out the snow in the end, but whatever. There is gore, but it shies away from torture porn, and the bonkers violence is worthy of Tarantino in its post-coital exhaustion.

The only drawback is that the heroine's addiction doesn't inform the story telling. Drugs do play a part, but just as a plot point, and the virtue-seeking in the resolution is really a gimmick used by holy-roller reformed types to leave the past behind them, rather than explore what it was really all about. To put it another way: this is a straight thriller, not psychological.

Overall: Excellent bit of genre.

For a streaming site film it's good

[jakethesnake-42007 · 5/10 · 27 February 2022]

I've never heard of the film but the premise seemed good and it's on Disney plus so I thought what the hell I'll watch it. For a streaming site is a decent movie would I of paid money to see it in the theatre no but for streaming sites it's good. The acting is good and the story is too. It's a little predictable at times and it sometimes drags but over all It's a good suspense thriller.

Simple little thriller

[Xavier_Stone · 5/10 · 25 February 2022]

Not bad, not good, simple and mostly straight forward movie. A few parts are terrible but it's ok.

Can't recommend it, but if you're bored silly it'll pass some time.

Chilly All Round

[svader · 1/10 · 26 February 2022]

Could one of the 10 or 9 crew please post the link to what film they are reviewing as it certainly wasn't this one.

Terrible acting. Stupid storyline and dumb characters. I didn't care about the lead or anyone.

Exit Stage Left

[Jblum5 · 5/10 · 26 February 2022]

No Exit is a story about a group of strangers bunked together in a cabin waiting out a storm, when a person is found tied up in a van outside. It is similar in plot to "The Hateful Eight" with a very different tone and time period.

For me this film is ultimately defined by its cliche characters and an onslaught of bafflingly poor decisions they make. This is not a movie with "smart" characters. Much of this is done to extend the movies run time but it feels hollow and cheap. I found myself rolling my eyes or screaming "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" several times at the screen when I think I was supposed to feel tense. I think this is ultimately what keeps this movie a small straight to streaming release. It takes away from much of the drama, and you're enjoyment of this film will depend on your suspension of disbelieve and tolerance for hollow characters.

This being said this story kept me at least intrigued throughout. The pacing of this movie is excellent, there is always a new action going on that keeps the story moving forward. The performances are good enough for what they have to work with here.

Overall No Exit is a quick, intriguing and ultimately shallow watch, not one I would recommend but it is ultimately a story that kept me interested.