No Exit (2022)

Directed by Damien Power. Starring Havana Rose Liu, Danny Ramirez, David Rysdahl, Dale Dickey, Dennis Haysbert, Mila Harris, Benedict Wall. [R]

Stranded in a blizzard that’s blocked off the road ahead, five people hole up in a visitor’s center to wait it out, but at least one of them is harboring a dark secret that puts them all in jeopardy. The premise, storytelling, and characterizations are pure B-movie (although the script was based on a novel), and although the filmcraft and performances are all adequate or better, it’s hard to care about anything that could happen or does happen. The protagonist is a recovering addict (Liu) who escaped from rehab after learning her mother is in bad shape at a hospital, but none of those details play into the mechanics of the narrative at any point, unless you count a pressing need to make contact with the outside world for updates, but that would apply to almost anyone trapped by inclement weather. One unexpected surprise and some cringe-worthy closeups of nail-gun carnage aren’t quite enough to make the movie worth recommending, but it’s not a bad example of its type. The biggest defect is the failure to use the setting to greater effect—no creative use of the limited space, no claustrophobic intensity, even the harsh weather rarely feels oppressive during the outdoors scenes. Scott Frank produced.

48/100