Film Review: No Exit provides suspense, thrills and horror

Actress Havana Rose Liu at the premiere of No Exit. Photo / Getty Images

No Exit (R, 95 mins), screening now on Disney+
Directed by Damien Power

Blizzard. Road closed. Five people are stranded in a visitor centre in Utah, waiting for the road to reopen.

In the snowy, spooky half-dark, the central character Darby (Havana Rose Liu) goes out into the carpark in search of cellphone reception. A muffled cry comes from inside the only van parked there. A small hand slaps frantically against the steamed-up window. A sick child is locked in there, gagged.

The scene is set. The clock is ticking. Which of the other four in the visitor centre is a kidnapper or abductor? Who will be rescued? Who will die?

It's a well-paced movie. You'll find your most aghast moments are placed sufficiently far apart to allow you to catch your breath, and yet you're watching a thriller, so you're anticipating, fearfully, all the time. Suspense, thriller elements and horror provide plenty of satisfaction.

Thrillers have to first off make you care about the central character, the risk of harm to them, their loss of freedom. It's easy to care about the flawed but clearly innocent Darby. She's in rehab in the opening scene when she gets an urgent message. Her mum is dying.

From her remote location, Darby has to get to the hospital in Salt Lake City in time, but the highway patrol stops her from driving any further that dark and stormy night, directing her instead to the visitor centre, for safety. As if.

You'll feel all the things Darby feels about being stopped, about the creepiness of the other four inside the visitor centre, and about the perilous situation of the child in the van, Jay (Mila Harris).

There's an unexpected link between three of the other four characters in the visitor centre. Iraq war vet Ed (Dennis Haysbert) is an inveterate gambler, while also being the steady reliable one of the four, or is he? Ash (Danny Ramirez) shows different sides of himself as if he's a prism. Lars (David Rhysdahl) has mood swings and a frighteningly bad temper. Sandi (Dale Dickey) is a nurse, but is she the kind sort, or not? Is there anyone Darby can trust?

Director Damien Power pitched the film successfully to Twentieth Century Fox/Disney, oversaw shooting in Aotearoa New Zealand with a Kiwi film crew including Weta Digital and Weta FX, and managed post-production back home in Sydney, big achievements, particularly for a first-time director. Definitely, one to watch.

The cast, except for Sarah (Kirsty Hamilton, a Toi Whakaari graduate), travelled from the USA. Filming took place during Covid-19 lockdown in Tamaki Makaurau, mostly in a cleverly constructed purpose-built studio, where even the blizzard took place. In an interesting sign of the times, Covid cleaners are named in the credits.

The soundtrack by Marco Beltrami and Miles Hankins manages relatively unobtrusively to capture mood and tone. Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari wrote the suitably spare screenplay, based on the 2017 novel No Exit by Taylor Adams.

Simon Raby was in charge of the outstanding camera work, with really good shots through narrow openings to excellent dramatic effect, and extreme close-ups that showcase the actors' skills. Highly recommended.

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