Next Exit (2022): A Heartfelt Search for Something More (Review)

After a glowing reception following its UK premiere at Frightfest 2022 and winning Total Film Frightfest Awards for Best Film, Actor and Actress, Next Exit is finally available on wide release through Blue Finch Film Releasing on digital download in the UK, having been earlier released in the US. It’s a remarkably fresh and original take on a much-depicted subject in film: reckoning with the possibility of life after death and the existence of ghosts.

Mali Elfman demonstrates great skill and control in her feature debut as a writer and director. She creates an atmosphere where everything is slightly heightened as befits the concept of being able to scientifically record someone passing into the afterlife. The world-building is subtly and effectively realised, whether through the television appearances of Karen Gillan’s Dr Stevenson explaining her discoveries to throwaway lines about robbers struggling to convince people to go along with being robbed because the threat of death has become less concerning.

The simplicity of Elfman’s approach keeps the high-concept ideas rooted in a lived reality. Stylish flourishes add to scenes rather than distract, such as when the lighting gets a bit too bright when a character is hungover or even the depictions of the afterlife itself which have a spectacular simplicity; there’s a minimalism that suggests something bigger and incomprehensible to human perception. Simple but effective is the aesthetic direction of the film and everyone understands and delivers on it. Ariel Marx, who previously did stellar anxiety-making work on Shiva Baby, provides a tonally similar score that builds on the heightened tone while not overwhelming the film and fits in beautifully with Bryan Parker’s immersive sound design.

At the centre of the film is the burgeoning relationship between Rose (Katie Parker) and Teddy (Rahul Kohli) as they travel to take part in Stevenson’s experiments, which is controversial enough to be commonly referred to as “going to San Francisco.” Having previously played ghosts in Mike Flanagan’s two Haunting of…TV series, Parker shines as someone who has lived through a lot but buries it under a tough skin. Similarly, Kohli’s utterly charming performance is another mask for Teddy, keen to leave his past behind him and embrace the certainty of post-death living. Their effortless chemistry means when the story tries to pull your heartstrings, it does it with some force.

The heady themes and heartfelt emotions go hand-in-hand, no easy trick to pull off. Elfman shows great storytelling skills visually in scenes like the opening on a child playing a card game with a ghost that we soon realise is being recorded on camera. This scene demonstrates Next Exit‘s shifting tones as a moment of horror is recontextualised into a sci-fi premise before launching into the character drama between Rose and Teddy. Less subtly, there are plenty of scenes with characters having conversations about concepts and beliefs in a way that might feel heavy-handed to some. For me, like Crimes of the Future, it felt appropriate that characters would be having these sorts of conversations when they are all having to process the reality-shattering possibility of life after death being a confirmed fact.

Even if those conversations don’t resonate, the emotive yearning within them is impossible to ignore. Following Rose and Teddy on their journey, physically and emotionally, we are asked the question: does knowing that death isn’t the end set you free from whatever is holding you back or is it even harder to let go? Every character is living with some sort of regret and the film beautifully captures how that negative feeling manifests into a desperate need to make connections, to not be alone with our shame. How futile this may be is left open and so by the end, we and the characters are left to chase after a spot of light in the dark.

Mike’s Archive: Next Exit (2022)