"There's No Exit" is a thriller about Darby's dangerous attempts to free a kidnapped child when she herself finds herself trapped in a visitor center in the middle of a snowstorm. The film offers the beginnings of fun when it forces us, along with Darby, to find out who owns the van in which little Jay is being held. But this fun is quickly swallowed up by the monotony of the card game, which the film essentially uses as a timeless formula that reveals the characters' past. The film pokes fun at the presumed notion of the skeptic's usefulness. In the film, the most doubtful person is actually the culprit. In doing so, it becomes predictable and robs us of our expectations. The ensuing game of betrayal is underdeveloped, lacking context and motivation, turning No Exit into yet another survival thriller.
Darby
Darby is undergoing treatment at a rehab center for her drug addiction. This has led her family to cut all ties with her. However, when she learns that her mother is on her deathbed, she flees the center and tries to reach the hospital in Salt Lake City, where she has been admitted. But fate has something else in store for her: due to a heavy snowstorm, she has to make a long stop at a visitors' center.
One can assume that her interest in Jay (a girl she finds in one of the parked vans) is the result of an emptiness in her heart due to the separation from her mother. One could argue that it is this feeling that should have made her indifferent to her son, but it does not. And this is where the irony comes in. We know that Darby's mother doesn't want him to join her at the hospital, which is a clear sign of her displeasure.
On the other hand, we have Darby doing everything she can to save Jay, playing the role a mother should play for her son. Perhaps her nature is rooted in her concern for the lonely child, who no doubt longs to be with his mother, which she also desires but cannot have. Therefore, she does everything in her power to ensure his safety. However, the fact that No Exit does not show any interaction between Darby and her mother does not allow us, as an audience, to connect with the sense of loneliness she is exposed to (the separation from her family). We don't know exactly why she is so distant from her family, and even when the film attempts to connect (Devon comes to visit Darby at the end of the film), the attempt seems futile.
Instead, what seems to be the most original element of Darby's arc is the moment when she snorts cocaine to give herself the boost she needs to get out of her troubled state (she can pull a nail out of her wrist with a hammer) and ultimately save Jay despite the gunfire. This could easily be interpreted as a message in which Darby, an addict, repairs or attempts to repair the damage by performing a superhuman feat that is the result of the addiction itself. Doesn't this call into question his dignity to deserve the sympathy of a lonely, unhealthy person? We may condemn ourselves for saying no, but in the end, we are inclined to think that Darby will not break free of his addiction. And the very beginning of No Way Out tells us that he has been in rehab for at least two years.
There is another suggestion. She may have been the least liked member of the family, which led her to take drugs to blow off steam. We have seen many movies in which a character takes drugs because they want to escape the pain, which in this case is the separation. This brings us to the reason why Darby wanted to help little Jay. It's because she didn't want Jay to feel what she felt (and probably has felt all her life). But one thing is for sure: sobriety was never an issue.
Ed and Sandy
Ed (Dennis Haysbert) is a former Marine and his wife Sandy (Dale Dickey) is a waitress. It's not until the end of No Exit that we realize that people who love each other so much and want to spend their lives together can have the exact opposite mentality. It is clear that Sandy is willing to do anything to get money (and a better life with her husband Ed), which Ed neither wanted nor expected.
Moreover, Sandy's need for money is only reinforced by Jay, who is his boss's daughter and constantly taunts Sandy. Anger and rage trigger revenge, which takes the form of kidnapping and ransom. She is the one who hires Ash and Lars to kidnap Jay. Perhaps Randy's character is more believable than Darby's. We can understand the need for money to get Jay. We can understand the need for money to start a family, and it's not hard to nod to Sandy's desperation. Her expectations are also dashed when she learns that Ash and Lars are not going to return Jay, but take him with the ransom. And he is shown as the stronger, more realistic half of the couple. It's clear how much Randy trusts him. Yet the film kills him off without it really making sense. Randy is also killed soon after. Their deaths are pathetic and miss the point; the reason is the same, which is that there is little context.
Ash and Lars
The antagonists of No Way Out, Ash and Lars, are brothers. But Ash is more interested in his cause. Lars is mostly lost in his own world. We don't know much about these two, except that they work for their adoptive father, Uncle Kenny. It was Kenny who got them involved in their current job, which is kidnapping children and finding them better homes. Lars is a good-natured character, which is shown at least twice; the first time when he yells at Ash to stop nailing Jay's wrist to the ground, and the second time when she slowly approaches the switchboard. She has a gun, but she doesn't shoot. He is also the one who comes to Jay while she is in the car. He brings her food and turns on the car heater to keep her warm. Tragically, Lars is killed by his brother Ash. He never meant any harm, but he had to pay the price. Ash also dies afterwards, yes, but that's not our concern. At this point, No Exit has become a festival of violence, blood and corpses.
There is another interesting aspect to the film. Darby, Jay, Ash and Lars are connected - how? Well, they are all estranged from their families in one way or another. Darby's family doesn't approve of him. Jay was forcibly removed from his family. And Ash and Lars were raised by an adoptive parent (their parents are dead or their parents disowned them). Although the film does not explore any of the families, family is the chain that binds the four (not in their world, but for us).
Explanation of the ending of "No Exit": Darby with his family?
The ending of "No Exit" shows that the police responded to a message sent by Darby from the dead officer's communicator. We then see her in the same rehabilitation center where we first saw her. She now has a picture of the two girls holding hands, along with Jay's name. So this is a gift from Jay. So it is clear that Jay is not only with his family, but also in contact with Darby. The drawing is a sign of Jay's love for her. Also, the fact that Devon, Darby's sister, came to see her is a sign that, after all this time, her family may have accepted her again. But the fact that she is still in rehab indicates two things: that she is still trying to overcome her addictions and/or that she must now also learn to deal with the horror of the events she has just experienced.
