A man who enjoys climbing is at a party with his family. But then an evil man shows up in the center of the city and he releases a toxic gas that fills up the city and many people die. The protagonist, his family, and his friends are trapped inside a large building and now they must try to survive until help arrives.
Exit is a light entertainment movie from South Korea that was a box office success. I see and understand why the movie did well because this is a movie for the whole family. But it lacks the little extra, and what it lacks most is real suspense.
The problem is that the movie is very predictable. You never feel that the two central characters in the movie are in grave danger. The atmosphere indicates that this will go well for the central characters we follow, which kills the suspense. It’s a bit of a shame because the movie has some scenes that could be suspenseful and increase the heart rate if you as a viewer thought some of the central characters might die.
The movie mixes suspense and humor, and the humor is of the cheap kind. I didn’t laugh a single time. The movie tries in several scenes to be funny without succeeding.
There’s a lot of focus on two characters. And they are creative when they first use their brain cells to escape the toxic gas or help someone else. So that’s good.
If there’s one thing that’s annoying in Exit, it’s the cheap and awful drama scenes. Especially when we see crying and group crying. Is this what they learn in acting school in South Korea? Are you serious? It’s so fucking bad! If this is what they teach in acting schools in South Korea, burn the schools! My God, what we are seeing is, to put it mildly, shit! I have noticed for many years that in many of these light South Korean blockbusters, the actors cannot convey emotions in a normal, human way without resorting to overacting.
Exit is a movie that has some creative moments, but it fails to impress when there is no suspense here. The concept is perfectly fine. It’s like following a group of characters aboard a sinking ship where the poison gas cloud rises upwards and the group must go higher to avoid the poison gas cloud until help arrives. But the movie fails to be a suspense movie when you never feel that the two central characters are in grave danger.