Dennis Haysbert & Dale Dickey in Hulu Thriller – The Hollywood Reporter

Agatha Christie meets Hateful Eight In Damian Power’s thriller, about five people trapped in a snow-covered shelter are guilty of kidnapping a girl, more than one of them. Adapted from Taylor Adams’ 2017 novel, No Exit Initially it was planned to be released in theaters, but now it is being released for the first time in Japan. Hulu.. There, the absurd plot of the movie and the lack of star power shouldn’t be a turn-off to streaming viewers who are endlessly hungry for new content.

Relatively new Havana Rose Ryu (may Day) Plays a central role in Derby, a recovery addict in his twenties who discovered that his mother had a cerebral aneurysm during a stint during rehab and was in the hospital. Away from her facility, she tried to drive to Salt Lake City to meet her mother before it was too late, but was forced to evacuate to the visitor center during a fierce blizzard. it was done.

Other snow-covered inhabitants are ex-Marine Ed (Dennis Haysbert) and his wife Sandy (Dale Dickey), and two young men trapped on their way to their weekend vacation in Reno: Friendly and Charming Ash (Danny Ramirez, Falcon and Winter Soldier) And Lars (David Lisdal) wearing headphones seem to be lost in their own world.

Since there is no mobile phone service, there is not much that the quintet can do other than tell a small story and play a bullshit on a card game. That is, until Derby rests outside, he finds a little girl (Mira Harris) tied up and gagged behind a parking van. A series of plot twists follow as the derby tries to understand which people inside are kidnappers and how to release the child.

It’s a reasonable premise for claustrophobic thrillers, but it doesn’t work very well due to painstaking plotting mechanics, incomplete dialogue, and excessive traits. For example, Lars actually shouts “Psycho” in his moody and withdrawal attitude, or in “a strange little white boy with a tip on his shoulder” as Ed describes his type. .. (Risdar seems to be listening to Igor’s role in stage production. Young Frankenstein.. )

It’s the spoiler that reveals how the plot unfolds, except that the girl eventually arrives at the shelter, followed by elaborate standoffs, and one of the characters actually emits the holy line. Too much. No one will be injured with us girls. As with all abducted children, at least in bad movies, the victim turns out to have a life-threatening illness and is in desperate need of her medicine.

Perhaps the most original element of the film is the superhuman energy for the derby to use his experience as a recovery addict to counterattack and at some point inhale cocaine through his nose to escape a particularly unstable situation. Is to give yourself. Ingenious, yes, but not a compelling argument about drinking.

Eventually, the film evolved from a whodunit of the cerebrum to a violent Gorefest, with a large number of bodies (at least in percentage), especially the nasty use of nail guns.

Director Power adjusts the thriller plot mechanics with reasonable skills, and the concise 90-minute run time of the movie ensures that the pace doesn’t slow down. Hayesbert takes advantage of the natural gravity and quiet authority that made him such an effective insurance pitchman.But Dicky seems to be criminally wasted, especially after her noble performance at the recent Sundance Film Festival. Love song.. Ramirez offers a charismatic turn as a derby’s ostensible ally, and Liu proves that he is more capable than being able to play her protagonist as a nail-tough but flawed heroine.