“No Exit” (2022) / Z-View

No Exit (2022)

Director:  Damien Power

Screenplay:  Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari based on the novel  No Exit by Taylor Adams

Stars: Havana Rose Liu, Danny Ramirez, David Rysdahl, Mila Harris, Dennis Haysbert, Dale Dickey and Jen Van Epps

Tagline:  How far would you go for a stranger?

The Plot…

Darby (LIu) received word that her mother experienced a life threatening brain aneurysm.  Despite a developing blizzard, Darby steals a car and heads for home.  As the storm worsens, Darby is forced to take shelter in a remote mountain visitor’s center.  The roads are closed and the storm has already knocked out cell towers.  Darby is going to have to hunker down in the shelter.

In the refuge Darby finds a married couple, Ed (Haysbert) and Sandi (Dickey), and two guys, Ash (Ramirez) and Lars (Rysdahl).  Everyone seems in pretty good spirits, except for Lars who is obviously a loner and a bit strange.  When Darby goes outside she hears a noise coming from a van in the lot.  She peeks inside and sees a little girl bound and gagged.  When Darby hears someone coming to check on her, she sneaks away from the van and acts like she’s just checking for cell service.

Darby goes back into the shelter but has no idea who came in the van.  The little girl will freeze to death if something isn’t done soon.  But who can Darby trust?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

No Exit has a great set-up with strangers stuck in an isolated visitor’s center.  They’re cut off from help and one (or more) of them is a killer.

It’s fun trying to guess who the kidnapper is.  I was right, but No Exit contained two huge twists that I didn’t see coming.

No Exit earns 3 of 5 stars.