This debut feature by writer-director Mali Elfman is built around a high-concept genre premise: the social impact of scientific proof of the afterlife. The film itself is a low-key character piece which tracks the road trip of two mismatched individuals who end up sharing a car journey towards the most final of destinations.
The whole film pivots on the relationship between the frustrated and under-achieving Teddy (a superb turn by Midnight Mass’ Rahul Kohli) and the uptight misanthrope Rose (an impeccable performance by The Haunting of Hill House’s Katie Parker). The pair need to reach an institute in San Francisco run by Dr Stevensen (a fleeting cameo by Doctor Who’s Karen Gillan) where an experimental euthanasia programme will expedite their transfer to the post-death realm. Initially, Rose finds Teddy insufferable. But as the miles roll by and they encounter others struggling with this same existential game-changer, the couple begin to find a tentative connection. As a road movie, Next Exit is quite properly more concerned with the journey than the terminus. And it’s in the early segments that the film is at its strongest. Rose and Teddy are two damaged individuals, and through some acutely written dialogue, they reveal to each other the most painful experiences of their disappointing lives and their desire for closure. These moments are realised on-screen with a very effective mix of warmth, wit and melancholy.
The last half of the film is more uneven, partly due to some predictable turns in the story but also because the presentation of the afterlife is anything but reassuring. Yet this remains imaginative and persuasive filmmaking with insightful things to say about human ennui.
NEXT EXIT will be released by Magnet Releasing in November 2022
