Next Exit

No pun intended - yes the two main actors played key roles in a Mike Flannigan show. Actually the male lead was also quite impactful in Midnight Mass - and will be in the next show of Flannigan too. So no surprise he got thanked in the credits.

Maybe because the two seem very comfortable with each other. And when I say that, I don't mean they hit it off as characters, but their chemistry is really something to behold. A road movie can get boring or stall at some point. I never felt that there was a chance of that happening here.

And that is a testament to the movie, script, director but also the actors of course. There are episodes on the road and there is the goal they want to reach. The goal that includes Karen Gillian - another collaborator from Flannigans past (Oculus, highly recommended), though you may know her from the MCU as Nebula.

But again the main focus is the duo and their journey. The dialog feels fresh and real - the characters while flawed and on a self destructive trip do connect with the viewer. Really well made and while it may not really answer questions about after life (or maybe it does for you?), it is more than worth a watch.

I didn't really think this was going to be a good film seeing as the premis presented wasn't interesting or groundbreaking at all, but I found it to be a very good story about being desperate and to try find a way out of a horrible mental situation where the two protagonist is willing to basically commit suicide to be "part of something great", or to be able to talk with dead relatives. It's a really emotional rollercoaster that is worth watching.

The characters is really written good and they meet themself in the door as one might day. Totally worth watching, just ignore the whole storyline with ghost and whatnot it's more of a metaphor I feel than anything.

I really liked this film. It's mis marketed and they didn't need to drum up some crazy sci fi angle at all. The acting and character development was enough for me.

I notice a lot of movies like "Smile" deal with trauma based subject matter and the deep parts of the mind that are affected by it. But they have to hook you with gimmicks instead. They didn't need that here.

The acting is really good, the ghost aspect is confusing but I think that should have been the premise not the sci-go angle. Either way it's a good film. I really was into it at the end and I've personally dealt with similar problems so it impacts me more.

Either way go into it not with sci-fi lens, but instead a humanist drama. Enjoy! 7/10.

... which is never make a promise to the audience that you can't deliver on. The first 3 minutes of this film sets up a premise so outrageously compelling that it would not surprise me if another film-maker grabs it and makes a proper movie about it down the road. However, and this is the point, Mali Elfman, the first-time Director of Next Exit, does nothing with it. Just sort of leaves it hanging, a constant reminder for the audience of what this movie could have been. That said, this is a not-bad road movie, and a so-so rom-com, but any attempt to call this science fiction is stretching it. The kind of film where, if you were flying NY to London, you might get hooked somewhere over the Atlantic. Maybe. And, oh yeah. Elfman has this really weird talent for repeatedly miscasting former model Karen Gillan (of Dr Who fame). Elfman produced THE PARTY IS JUST BEGINNING, 2018, where Gillan was so off-character it seemed as though she was deliberately trying to implode her own career. In this film, she is barely recognizable. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

I came to mark this movie as viewed, when I read the reviews. Since I use other's reviews here to decide if I'm going to watch something, I feel like the current reviews paint a much to negative view of it.

The 2 lowest scores CLEARLY didn't get the movie since both give examples that are easily explained if you paid attention, but since I'm trying to do this without spoilers, you'll just have to trust me. If your idea of sci-fi is only Star Trek, you are going to have a bad time.

Technically this is sci-fi but only as an flimsy excuse for a road movie. What you get is excellent dialogue and acting with a couple charming character arcs and a healthy dose of dark humor.

It doesn't back away from the very heavy subjects but always does it so the humor and drama balance each other out. So it isn't a comedy but you'll probably won't feel like suicide afterwards either.

I would have given it a solid 7 but the ending was way to cliché and so predictable.

Don't expect a story, a mystery, spooky supernatural stuff or anything like that. This is just a movie about two souls meeting when they are going through a phase at the end of their 20's ( quarter life crisis )