Exit 0 (2019) | Film Review

What would you do?

At the crux of any Hitchcockian dilemma exists one singular question: if you were in the shoes of the film’s protagonist, what would YOU do? Would you tip your hat to the world that you are in on Norman’s particular fetishes? Would you risk certain imprisonment for the mere chance of catching the real culprit? If you thought you found proof of a murder in a small town where you know absolutely no one, who would you tell? This last one is what ultimately haunts our hero Billy in director E.B. Hughes’ new thriller, Exit 0.

Deciding to get away from the insanity of metropolitan life, Billy and his girlfriend Lisa (Gabe Fazio and Augie Duke) elect to whisk away for a short getaway at a quaint B&B where Billy used to visit with his parents as a child. The intention is to part with the hustle and technology of city living, and rekindle the spark that fires up their relationship.

Once they arrive at the Doctor’s Inn – and after we become accustomed to the B&B’s offbeat staff and random guests – Billy finds himself sitting on their bed waiting for Lisa to finish an ill-timed bath, a tell-tale sign that the aforementioned spark session didn’t quite take. As he attempts to smoke his manic energy away, a slight drop of a matchbox leads to a videotape hidden under the bed. A tape that, once viewed, seems to showcase a brutal rape and double murder that occurred in their very room. Is this a snuff film? Should he call the police? Should he tell Lisa?

As Billy ponders what he should do, his own psychological intensity begins to increase as he wrestles with his internal anxiety. Time seems to slip, the tape seems to vanish and reappear, and the possibility that perhaps this film is toying with the supernatural arises. Exit 0 begins with a couples retreat turned horrific, and then casts reasonable doubt for the next hour as to what is truly going on at the Doctor’s Inn.

Writer and director E.B. Hughes orchestrates a noble feat here as he carefully switches up his film’s genre numerous times, playfully taunting Billy with viable options for his experiences. Conspiracy, delusion, ghosts, psychosis, and history repeating itself are all legitimate possibilities. Augie Duke’s Lisa functions as the audience, unsure of what exactly to believe, asking questions without pushing Billy too far, and therefore solidifying Hughes’ vision as she ascertains the meaning behind Billy’s growing hysteria.

Ultimately, Exit 0 lives and dies at the feet of Gabe Fazio. If we cannot buy into Billy’s mindset, nothing else would work. Thankfully, Fazio manages a nuanced metamorphosis over the course of the film, and the film is better for it. Billy’s heightened reactions to evolving events are a stark contrast to the sarcastic and good-natured character we spent the first 30 minutes with, keeping us on our toes for the majority of the film. And despite figuring out the conclusion fairly early on, Fazio’s multilayered performance was aloof enough to consistently have me rethinking my own position on the outcome.

Indie thrillers often rely on tried and true methods of storytelling in order to secure eyes on their prize, but Hughes is willing to take more than a few chances. With an ending that will have opinions split all over the map, Exit 0 is a Hitchcock and Kubrickian hybrid that earns the respect of its audience.