by Shane Conto, Staff Writer
What makes a great thriller? The root of it comes down to the setup. With a great setup and concept, a filmmaker can do great things. Say you have a young woman who escapes from a rehab during a terrible snowstorm. She needs to make her way to the hospital because her mother is dying. Unfortunately, she gets trapped at a rest stop. What makes things worse? She finds a kidnapped child in the back of a van at the rest stop. Who kidnapped this child? There are only a few possible options. With such a setup, there is plenty of potential for mystery and thrills.
What is director Damien Power able to do with this intriguing setup? Power pumps plenty of tension and suspense into this claustrophobic film. There are plenty of scenes that deliver the goods including an early scene focusing on a game of cards. At this point, the characters are still mysterious as our lead, Darby (Havana Rose Liu), and the audience knows little about them. They attempt to play games and deceive each other to win, while giving the audience a chance to figure them out. As the action intensifies, Power keeps the audience on the edge of their seat. With the minimal sets, moments do become a bit repetitive, but it still works.
What about the story that No Exit tries to tell? There are a lot of moving pieces to the initial setup at the beginning of the film. Things feel a little clumsy and convenient, but once the film is in the thick of it, it is an effective narrative. For the most part, the rest of the film is tight and offers up plenty of twists and turns. Most of the twists are offered up in an effective way (minus one scene that feels awkward when it drops a random flashback that stalls the tension). When the climax comes, it does last a tad longer than it should be; it is still intense and shocking.
What about the diverse cast that fills out this abandoned rest stop? Liu brings the right amount of insecurity and struggle with some real flashes of emotional strength and courage. Danny Ramirez gets the opportunity to offer up the most range with his character, and he plays off it well. David Rysdahl is quite unnerving in his role, with his performance offering up something sinister and suspect. Luckily, we have Dennis Haysbert and Dale Dickey, who bring a valuable veteran presence to the film as well.
Does No Exit offer up a worthwhile thriller over on Hulu? This might not be the most original thriller out there, but it is hard to overlook the potential that Power delivers. The perfect setting makes for a lot of potential thrills and this script offers up enough twists to keep things interesting. Right at the center, Liu anchors it all with a strong leading performance. This one is worth the stream.
Grade: B-
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