''Next Exit'' is a 2022 American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by Mali Elfman in her directorial debut. It stars Katie Parker,

Rahul Kohli Rahul Kohli (born 13 November 1985) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti in '' iZombie'' (2015–19), Owen Sharma in ''The Haunting of Bly Manor'' (2020), and Sheriff Hassan in ''Midnight Mass'' ...

Rose McIver Frances Rose McIver (born 10 October 1988) is a New Zealand actress. She starred as Olivia "Liv" Moore in The CW supernatural comedy-drama series '' iZombie'' (2015–2019) and played Summer Landsdown the Yellow Ranger in ''Power Rangers RPM'' ...

Karen Gillan Karen Sheila Gillan (; born 28 November 1987) is a Scottish actress. She gained recognition for her work in British film and television, particularly for playing Amy Pond, a primary companion to the Eleventh Doctor in the science fiction seri ...

Tongayi Chirisa Tongayi Arnold Chirisa is a Zimbabwean actor known for playing Man Friday on NBC's ''Crusoe'' television series, Father Nicholas on ''The Jim Gaffigan Show'', and Hekule on Leon Schuster's '' Mr. Bones 2: Back from the Past'' movie. He is also ...

, and

Diva Zappa Diva Muffin Zappa (born July 30, 1979) is an American artist and actress who has also recorded a one-off comedy single. She is the youngest child of musician Frank Zappa and wife Gail Zappa. Personal life Diva Zappa was born in Los Angeles. She ...

. It premiered at the

Tribeca Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was fo ...

on June 10, 2022, is scheduled to be released in the United States in November 2022, by

Magnet Releasing Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Mag ...

Premise

A scientific study known as Life Beyond, launched by Dr. Stevenson in San Francisco, allows people to commit painless suicide with the knowledge that an afterlife does exist. In New York City, two ready-to-die strangers, Rose and Teddy, randomly end up sharing a rental car for a cross-country trip to their respective Life Beyond appointments.

Cast

* Katie Parker as Rose *

as Teddy *

as Heather *

as Father Jack *

Tim Griffin John Timothy Griffin (born August 21, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 20th lieutenant governor of Arkansas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the United States Attorney for the Eastern Dist ...

as John *

as Karma *

Nico Evers-Swindell Nico Thomas Evers-Swindell is a New Zealand actor who portrayed Prince William in the 2011 Lifetime original film '' William & Kate''. Previous roles include minor appearances in the 2010 film ''Edge of Darkness'' and the television crime drama ' ...

as Nick *

as Dr. Stevenson

Production

''Next Exit'' is the directorial debut of Mali Elfman, who wrote it more than ten years before its premiere. She would revisit and add on to the script every time she was in a "difficult place" or facing a struggle in her life. She wrote the lead role with her friend Katie Parker in mind, and cast

as the second lead because she liked his performances in the television series ''

iZombie ''iZombie'', originally titled ''I, Zombie'', is a comic book series created by writer Chris Roberson and artist Michael Allred, published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint beginning in 2010. The series deals with Gwen Dylan ( née Gwendolyn Price ...

'' (2015–2019) and the Netflix series ''

The Haunting of Bly Manor ''The Haunting of Bly Manor'' is an American gothic romance drama streaming television miniseries created by Mike Flanagan, and released on October 9, 2020 by Netflix. The second entry in Flanagan's '' The Haunting'' anthology series, it mostly ...

'' (2020). Elfman's friends

and

, both of whom also star in ''iZombie'', as well as

and

star as well. ''Next Exit'' was in development for over eight years before Helmstreet Productions decided to finance it. It was shot during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in the states of Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, sometime between January and February 2021.

Release

The film premiered at the

on June 10, 2022. In July 2022,

Magnolia Pictures Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Mag ...

bought the distribution rights to the film, and scheduled it for release in November 4, 2022 under its genre arm, Magnet Releasing. In August 2022, Blue Finch Films acquired the film's international rights.

Reception

At the Tribeca Festival, the film received the award for Best Cinematography.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt19595494 2022 films 2022 directorial debut films 2020s road comedy-drama films American road comedy-drama films American science fiction comedy-drama films Films set in New York City Films set in San Francisco Films shot in Arizona Films shot in Missouri Films shot in New Mexico Films shot in Oklahoma Films shot in Texas 2020s English-language films 2020s American films