59
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83ColliderMaggie LovittColliderMaggie LovittMali Elfman’s directorial debut Next Exit, sets out on a journey towards death, but along the way, it is filled to the brim with life and questioning about what it is to really live. What’s fascinating is that Elfman penned the script over a ten-year period, yet it so perfectly encapsulates the here-and-now.
- 75The A.V. ClubBrent SimonThe A.V. ClubBrent SimonIn the end, one’s assessment and enjoyment of Next Exit rests less in its treatment of the more conjectural elements of its story, and more in its sensitive and sympathetic rendering of decidedly Earthbound, day-to-day messiness. Maybe the exit isn’t what we should be looking for, in other words.
- 70SlashfilmHoai-Tran BuiSlashfilmHoai-Tran BuiNext Exit is a moody and haunting character exercise, centering around the terrific central performances by Katie Parker and Rahul Kohli, but a little underbaked otherwise.
- 70We Got This CoveredScott CampbellWe Got This CoveredScott CampbellNext Exit aims high, and while it hovers perilously close to overindulgence at times, Elfman’s hugely accomplished first-time feature largely succeeds at every box it attempts to tick off.
- 67IndieWireChristian ZilkoIndieWireChristian ZilkoParker and Kohli both give excellent performances, but the majority of Next Exit is hard to distinguish from the standard road trip dramas that pop up at Sundance every year.
- 63Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreLike life itself, Next Exit is very much a mixed bag — tiny triumphs weighed down by a lifetime of tragedies, guilt, blame and regret in a film that works as a road comedy and kind of works as an exploration of existential crisis, just not as well.
- 63RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiRogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiIt isn’t necessarily bad, per se, and it contains just enough in the way of intriguing elements to more or less hold one’s interest for its running time. However, Next Exit never shifts into a higher dramatic gear at any point, and it concludes on a note that is more than a bit unsatisfying.
- 50Screen RantMae AbdulbakiScreen RantMae AbdulbakiElfman’s directorial feature debut has enough to hold it together, including a tremendous cast and character dynamics that are thoughtful, interesting, and complicated.
- 40IGNSiddhant AdlakhaIGNSiddhant AdlakhaDespite its great performances, Next Exit is a mess of a movie that fails to take advantage of its own supernatural premise.
- 40The New York TimesNicolas RapoldThe New York TimesNicolas RapoldThe actors’ chemistry feels brittle, and like many road movies it has trouble mining drama out of disparate episodes.