Mali Elfman's directorial debut is an intimate, moving piece of sci-fi with some terrific lead performances.
Death. One of the greatest mysteries of humanity. What happens when we die? Where do we go? What do we see? Questions to which we have no answers. But what if we did? What if we knew what the afterlife looked like and had a way to get there? Such is the central premise of Next Exit, the feature debut of writer-director Mali Elfman and a film that wants its viewers to ask themselves the question: if you could escape this life and all the terrible things you’ve done, would you? For a plethora of reasons, Next Exit is the first great soft sci-fi film of 2023.
Beyond the afterlife, its core premise is simple: two strangers who have both signed up for the procedure end up sharing a rental car on their journey from New York to San Francisco. On the way, they encounter people and discover things about each other that make them wonder if they’ve made the right choice in signing away their lives…
The first great soft sci-fi film of 2023
When making a movie like this one, the casting needs to be perfect. A film built on its lead actors falls apart if its leads are no good or unsuited to their roles – thankfully, that isn’t a problem here. Taking on the challenging, captivating roles of Rose and Teddy are the wonderful Katie Parker (The Haunting of Hill House) and Rahul Kohli (Midnight Mass), and the casting couldn’t be better. In a 100-minute movie, there isn’t a single scene without one of them present. That’s a tough job for an actor, but Parker and Kohli are more than up to the task. Elfman delivers them meaty, well-rounded roles to really get stuck into and both clearly relish the challenge, diving into them with nothing less than determination. Both Parker and Kohli won acting awards when the film premiered at last year's FrightFest, and after finally getting to see them strut their stuff, those awards come as no surprise.
Rose and Teddy are both extremely broken people, haunted and shattered by both the things they have done and the things that have been done to them. Over the course of the film we learn why they both want to go through with the procedure (seen by some in the film as little more than suicide), and honestly… we get it. The two are aimless, wandering, straining under the weight of simply existing. So when they’re presented with an out, with the chance to be part of something that might ultimately matter, of course they’d take it. Why wouldn’t they?
It’s a fascinating journey that serves to flesh out both our lead characters and the world they inhabit
But humanity, as ever, manages to surprise them. They make several stops on their drive that allow the film’s supporting actors to really shine in their one-off scenes. Each person they meet represents a different part of humanity, both the good and the bad. It’s a fascinating journey that serves to flesh out both our lead characters and the world they inhabit, and all of that drives the film towards its heartstopping conclusion. It’s terrific.
It helps, of course, that Parker and Kohli are backed up by some superb talent behind the camera. Elfman (yes, Danny’s daughter) proves herself a very capable writer and director; the film’s somewhat repetitive structure never becomes boring for even a second, instead serving to push Rose and Teddy into an unknown headspace thanks to the script’s inherent humanity. Next Exit is a perfect example of modern soft sci-fi: a story with a central sci-fi conceit that isn’t about the sci-fi thing itself, but instead uses the thing as a backdrop to tell human stories. Her dialogue sparkles in places, brought to life beautifully by Parker and Kohli, while her direction is steady, confident and self-assured. Elfman herself is part of a wave of fresh female voices that have announced themselves with triumphant films in the last few years (a list that also includes Emma Seligman, Frances O’Connor, Alice Diop and Charlotte Wells, to name but four). If anyone from the Academy is reading (which they’re not, but a boy can dream), you’ve absolutely no excuse for nominating only men in the Best Director category ever again. Sort yourselves out.
It’s a raw and cohesive piece of filmmaking of the kind we don’t see all too often
And speaking of Emma Seligman, her Shiva Baby composer Ariel Marx also provides the score here, which is expectedly beautiful – even more so when combined with Azuli Anderson’s gorgeous images, which really shine in the film’s final stretch (you’ll know it when you see it). Considering its low budget, its Covid-time shooting and the fact that it’s been in development for nearly a decade, it’s a remarkably well put-together film.
It’s a raw and cohesive piece of filmmaking of the kind we don’t see all too often. One of the best things about genres is that there’s so much space to play, and Elfman proves that. Next Exit is a terrific example of a high-concept, low-budget sci-fi flick that does so much with so little, and is all the better for it. It’s introspective, asking its viewers to look at themselves as much as the characters they see on screen – and isn’t that the aim of so much great sci-fi? It’s a crying shame that it isn’t getting a cinema release here in the UK, but I implore you to seek Next Exit out. You won’t regret it.
Blue Finch Film Releasing presents Next Exit on Digital Download 20th February.
Images courtesy of Blue Finch Films. All rights reserved.