It’s a tight storyline from beginning to end, and the way that the story and characters develop over the course of the film allows the viewer to stay immersed in the film. Director Damien Power seems to have fully understood the potential of his cast and script and deftly gets the most out of both. No Exit is a thoroughly enjoyable mystery thriller with layered characters, and unexpected twists.

No Exit Poster © 2022 20th Century Studios. In “No Exit,” Havana Rose Liu (“Mayday”) makes her feature film leading role debut as Darby, a young woman en route to a family emergency who is stranded by a blizzard and forced to find shelter at a highway rest area with a group of strangers. When she stumbles across an abducted girl in a van in the parking lot, it sets her on a terrifying life-or-death struggle to discover who among them is the kidnapper. Directed by Damien Power (“Killing Ground”) from a screenplay by Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari (“Ant-Man and the Wasp”) based on Taylor Adams’ 2017 novel and produced by PGA Award winner Scott Frank (“The Queen’s Gambit”), the film stars Havana Rose Liu, Danny Ramirez (“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” “Top Gun: Maverick”), David Rysdahl (“Nine Days”), Dale Dickey (“Winter’s Bone), Mila Harris (“Young Dylan”) and Dennis Haysbert (“Breakthrough”). and internationally as an Original on Disney+ under the Star banner and Star+ in Latin America. No Exit premieres February 25th exclusively as a Hulu Original in the U.S. Fortunately, 20th Century Studios’ No Exit, based on the Taylor Adams book of the same name, knows what it is, and keenly focuses on layered characters and a tight plot with enjoyable twists and turns that delivers a stunning conclusion.

While horror and suspense films can overlap, the genres aren’t one and the same. Too often, thrillers fall into the trap of leaning too heavily on horror elements like gore or shock factor at the expense of characters and story. It’s rare to find a thoroughly satisfying thriller nowadays.

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