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"Our lives are the very definition of disaster"
Often the only way out is through, but in Exit, the only way out is---up! Two underachievers help save a birthday party from a toxic death by using their extracurricular skills. (Warning! a few climbing puns tumbled out while writing this)
Yong Nam spends every morning hanging out on the monkey bars at the park strengthening his climbing skills. Unable to find a job, he’s a disappointment to himself and his family. He schedules his mother’s 70th birthday party nearly 2 hours away because the girl he had a crush on in college works there. Eui Joo may have a job but she carries most of the weight while also fending off her boss’ advances. The two ex-friends meet at the party during a rocky moment. Soon they will both put their climbing skills to the test when toxic gas is released in the city and they have to find a route to lead the people in the building to the roof.
Exit was entertaining if you didn’t look at the science of it too closely. There were crevasses in the narrative logic that hurt the story’s balance. I was afraid it would fall into a slapstick comedy but fortunately, most of the “comedy” took place in the early part of the movie. Jo Jung Suk and Im Yoon Ah worked well together, elevating the material. The climbing element gave a different twist to the urban disaster genre. At one point Yong Nam said he was going to be boulder and only interview in the tall buildings because they were rescued first, yet it was when he and Eui Joo harnessed their skills that they helped save many lives, including their own. Suffering from a harsh economic job landscape, the two proved that their lives were hardly useless and their rock-solid abilities came in handy. They also inspired a community of basement dwelling underachievers to use their unconventional hobby to light the way as the duo raced along the rooftops. Exit may not have scaled new heights, but there are moments when it will keep you on edge.
20 April 2025
Yong Nam spends every morning hanging out on the monkey bars at the park strengthening his climbing skills. Unable to find a job, he’s a disappointment to himself and his family. He schedules his mother’s 70th birthday party nearly 2 hours away because the girl he had a crush on in college works there. Eui Joo may have a job but she carries most of the weight while also fending off her boss’ advances. The two ex-friends meet at the party during a rocky moment. Soon they will both put their climbing skills to the test when toxic gas is released in the city and they have to find a route to lead the people in the building to the roof.
Exit was entertaining if you didn’t look at the science of it too closely. There were crevasses in the narrative logic that hurt the story’s balance. I was afraid it would fall into a slapstick comedy but fortunately, most of the “comedy” took place in the early part of the movie. Jo Jung Suk and Im Yoon Ah worked well together, elevating the material. The climbing element gave a different twist to the urban disaster genre. At one point Yong Nam said he was going to be boulder and only interview in the tall buildings because they were rescued first, yet it was when he and Eui Joo harnessed their skills that they helped save many lives, including their own. Suffering from a harsh economic job landscape, the two proved that their lives were hardly useless and their rock-solid abilities came in handy. They also inspired a community of basement dwelling underachievers to use their unconventional hobby to light the way as the duo raced along the rooftops. Exit may not have scaled new heights, but there are moments when it will keep you on edge.
20 April 2025
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