NO EXIT: Figuring Out Who Is The Villain Doesn’t Take Long Enough for This Thriller To Land
Disney+ Directed by Damien Power
Stars: Havana Rose Liu, Danny Ramirez, Dennis Haysbert, David Rysdahl, Mila Harris, and Dale Dickey
The who dunnit genre is red hot right now, and with reason- there’s been a bunch of very strong additions over the past little while. Unfortunately, even though No Exit has its fare share of moments- there’s just not enough for it to be as strong as it’s counterparts. That’s not to say that there’s nothing fun within the film, in fact I think it’s a perfect stream on Disney+ for people that love thrillers- just don’t expect a mystery thats as fun as some of the stronger ones within the sub genre.
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.
The script wants you to be absolutely stunned with its reveal. Yet the reveal itself is one that most viewers will see coming from miles away. Therefore the suspense itself is much less as both us and our lead have deduced the child napper so far in advance that there’s just not much to be excited about. That’s not to say that they don’t have some extra special twists up their sleeves, as the script gives us a really cool reveal in the final thirty minutes that absolutely just worked for me.
Some really cool action sequences, namely the ones with the nail gun comes to mind. Its hilarious to me that this film is listed as a Disney+ because when it gets violent- it gets really violent. The camera work has some really neat stuff, theres a very cool scene using the mirror of the van where the child is being kept to showcase the danger our lead is in for.
The cast is fine, none of them have exceptional characters to play- so they’re really doing their best with bare bones personalities. Danny Ramirez is by far the strongest, and as the film goes he gets to really show his acting abilities far more than his co stars. Dennis Haysbert deserves more roles as well, he’s got this sort of charisma that just draws you to his characters nearly instantly. There’s not enough character for Haley Rose Liu’s Darby to be interesting. Nor is there enough justification for the way that Rysdahl plays the Lars character, something that teeters between comical and uncomfortable.
No Exit has some clue moments, but theres just not enough for it to be as good as it’s fellow who dunnits
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