Sunday, May 8, 2022

No Exit - A Nice Little Thriller with Simple Story & High Intensity

Another new movie was released this weekend on Disney+ which from what I read on the synopsis, it had an interesting premise. So once I have the time yesterday, I immediately gave this a try. OK, I'll head on with the movie now.

Brief Story Line

Darby (Havana Rose Liu - The Sky is Everywhere etc) was a recovering addict who after receiving news that her mother had to be operated, decided to drive overnight to the hospital. However, a heavy storm ruined her plan and she had to wait it up in a small place together with other people who were stuck as well. They consisted of retired marine Ed (Dennis Haysbert - Playing with Fire etc), his wife Sandi (Dale Dickey - Winter's Bone etc), a young man named Ash (Danny Ramirez - The Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV series etc) and an awkward guy Lars (David Rysdahl - Nine Days etc). 

While trying to get signal for her phone, she found that a young girl (Mila Harris) had been kidnapped. Now Darby had to find out who was the culprit while trying to save the girl. 

So how would the story conclude? Find them all in this thriller movie.

End of Brief Story Line

Now that was really entertaining for me. To be honest, I have my doubts at first as even though it has an interesting premise, but the early part to give context on the lead character Darby felt a bit too long for me. I was worried that the movie would not have sufficient time to show the intense moments. However, once I reached to the interesting part where Darby discovered the kidnapping, it was  suspenseful all the way, which made the waiting worthwhile.

Despite being relatively new, Havana Rose Liu was pretty good as the lead star. She was quite convincing as the recovering addict with personal family issues. But the best part would be when she intelligently fish out information about the kidnapper and tried her best to save the victim. If you read the movie's synopsis or my brief story line above, you would see that it has a very simple plot. The good thing about the movie was it managed to keep me on my toe and rooting for Darby who had to go through all the physical pain and endure emotionally draining moments. I also liked the twist that I did not foresee earlier.

The movie itself has a duration of 95 minutes. There was no mid or post end credit scene here, but it did mention that the film was based on Taylor Adams' novel of the same title. It was directed by Damien Power who mostly directed short movie and a feature film titled Killing Ground. From what I read on the internet, this movie was originally released on Hulu back in February. So I was delighted that it was released on Disney+ in Indonesia which made it possible for me to watch. It was additional proof that we can enjoy more films with mature rating (like this one which was classified for 17+) in this streaming platform.

For a thriller movie, I think this one was successful in creating the thrills. I was actually a bit surprised that critics were mixed about it as they thought it was just a popcorn movie. Anyway, audience seemed to be more appreciative and I personally loved this film. Although there was a bit of irritated feel prior to the ultimate climax (seemed to be added just to provide further intensity), I was still satisfied by the ending. Btw, there was a closing scene which gave a nice closure, but I would have been happy even without such scene. So if you are looking for an entertaining thriller movie with a very simple plot and having almost nonstop intense moments, then you can give this a try.

Happy watching!

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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