Exit ~ Can We Save Ourselves From a Toxic Gas?

“Exit” is a 2019 Korean film, categorized as Survival, Thriller, Action, Disaster, Comedy, and Romance; streaming free with ads on Tubi TV.

SUMMARY: A woman goes to celebrate her 70^th birthday with family and friends. Someone released a deadly toxic gas in the city and now the party group and some hotel employees are stuck in the hotel. They were told to go to the roof but the door is locked and they can’t access the roof. The toxic gas is rising up through the building. What are they going to do?

♦ From Mountain Climbing to Life Saving

In “Exit”, Yong-Nam graduated from a university, but he has been single and unemployed for several years. Being unemployed is not his professional choice, but being single is his personal choice. He likes Ui-Joo, a single, independent, free-spirited, young woman that he hopes will like him too, one day. But of course, it’s hard to pursue romance when you’re broke and still live with your parents. He should get a job first. Unemployed men don’t usually attract anybody!

Meanwhile, Yong-Nam’s mom is about to celebrate her 70^th birthday. He and his siblings need to make this party special. The birthday celebration will be held at a convention hall. His family doesn’t know why he insisted on having the party there. It seemed like a faraway drive. Nevertheless, that’s where they had the party, and guess who walked into the room when they were taking a family photo? Ui-Joo, the girl who rejected him years ago.

Oh my! What a coincidence! What a surprise! Does she work at the convention hall? Yong-Nam tried to feign surprise at seeing her, but she’s probably the reason why he insisted they celebrate his mother’s birthday there. Maybe if Ui-Joo saw him again, she might be happy to see him, and maybe this time she might decide that she’d want to date him. Maybe? One can hope!

Ui-Joo was surprised to see Yong-Nam, but she made it clear that she still wasn’t interested in a relationship. The party lasted for several hours, and the group finally decided to leave. Unbeknownst to them, disaster had struck! It was a man-made disaster. An unidentified man released a toxic gas cloud, and it was quickly engulfing Seoul.

Just as the party group walked out the door of the convention hall, Yong-Nam and Ui-Joo saw the smoke and started telling everybody to go back inside. Yong-Nam’s sister had already succumbed to the toxic gas. Yong-Nam risked his own safety to get his sister out of the car and brought her back into the building. The sister was in bad shape, but what was even worse was that nobody knew how to treat her because they didn’t know what this “white smoke” was.

Fortunately, they could hear emergency reports, and they were instructed to go to the roof of the building. The toxic gas was rising up through the building. Everybody went to the roof, but the door was locked. It was for security reasons, and the manager, who was with the party group, was supposed to have a key. But he didn’t because he left the key in his office, and there was no way he was going downstairs into the white smoke to get it. But the white smoke was rising. It would eventually get to them IF they didn’t go out on the roof.

There must be another way to get that locked door open. Yong-Nam’s hobby is rock climbing. He decides it’s a skill he can put to use. All he has to do is go through a window, climb up the side of the building to the roof, and open the door from the outside. But isn’t that dangerous? YES! YES IT IS!

Yong-Nam could fall to his death if the rope breaks. Another thing is that he and Ui-Joo were members of the rock climbing club, and … she was better at rock climbing than he is. But he’s not going to ask her to risk her life. After all, it’s his family he needs to save. She’s not a family member. Not yet. Hey! One can hope! This is a life-or-death situation. He’s single, unemployed, but if he doesn’t take action, he, his family, and the woman he loves could die. One needs to have something to hope for.

Main Characters:

• Yong-Nam (played by Cho Jung-Seok, “Land of Happiness”, “Captivating The King”, “The Face Reader”, “The Nokdu Flower”, “My Annoying Brother”, “Pilot”, “Hit-and-Run Squad”, “The Fatal Encounter”, “Hospital Playlist 1 and 2”)
• Ui-Joo (played by Lim Yoon-A aka Yoona, “King the Land”, “Big Mouth”, “The King Loves”, “Prime Minister and I”, “The K2”)

Where to Watch: Tubi TV

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 7 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 8.4 out of 10 stars
• Letterboxd: 4 out of 5 stars
• Google users shared a public rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars

My personal rating is the same as MDL.

Natural disasters are acts of God. But man-made disasters are ACTS OF CRUELTY.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

“E.X.I.T” Beats “The Divine Fury” At Box Office To Take No. 1 On Opening Day | Soompi

Exit review: Korean disaster film lifts rock-climbing slacker | Los Angeles Times

Exit (2019): High Stakes, Low Expectations, Solid Fun | Cinematic Panic

Review: “Exit” Stars SNSD’s Yoona in A Lighthearted Disaster Flick | Cinema Escapist

‘Exit” review: Korean disaster movie is predictable but still entertaining – Young Post | South China Morning Post

[Herald Review] Despite a few flaws, ‘Exit’ a fun, action-packed film with likable characters | The Korea Herald

TRAILER/TEASER:

Rotten Tomatoes Indie. “Exit Trailer #1 (2019).” YouTube, 17 July 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykxjA_nEoj4.

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Korean Disaster Films:

• Pandora (2016)
• Ashfall (2019)
• Concrete Utopia (2023)

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