Worth: $11.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Johnny Beauchamp, Mike Manning, Ashleigh Murray
Intro:
… an enjoyable headscratcher. Despite its bleak tone and subject matter, it is sometimes delivered with a veneer of camp that suggests it’s really aiming to be ironic all along.
If you’ve watched any number of Lifetime-esque thrillers on streaming services over the years, you’ll know there’s an argument to be made that like Disney villains, the antagonist – usually a stalker or obsessed roommate – is often queer-coded for the easier digestion of America’s more conservative viewers. Fully enamoured, the new friend’s lust is often hidden behind a coveting of the heroine’s husband, their children or a facsimile of their life. With the likes of Hallmark finally catching wind of their LGBTQ+ audience, that’s likely to change but until then we have The Way Out from Barry Jay (Killer Therapy). Yes, that Barry Jay, the founder of Barry’s Bootcamp gyms.
Struggling musician and pizza deliverer Alex (Johnny Beauchamp) has been living at the bottom of a bottle for some time. After a failed suicide attempt, he gets sober and decides to reconnect with his wayward father. Unfortunately, hopes of a reunion are dashed when Alex arrives at his father’s home to find that he’s been killed in an apparent home invasion.
Inheriting his father’s home, and debt, Alex decides to take in a housemate to help pay the bills. Along comes the remarkably chiselled Shane (Mike Manning), who brings with him a brooding intensity that should immediately raise a few red flags. Willing to look past the fact that Shane barely smiles, our naïve hero hands him the keys.
From this point on, director Jay – who also wrote the film – puts his foot on the gas and doesn’t let up for 90 odd minutes. Once Alex and Shane are alone, the latter starts harassing Alex to ‘man up’. He teaches him how to box, gets him to quit his job and even has aggressive sex with him. All seemingly to get Alex to step out of his comfort zone. “Get angry!” is his battle cry.
What Alex doesn’t know, however, is that when he’s not at home, Shane pretends to be a sex worker so he can trap and murder child abusers. It’s a dark subplot, for sure, but one that doesn’t really go anywhere until very late in the third act. Until then, we follow Alex as he starts taking Shane’s teachings to heart and begins to act like a complete muppet to his friends. Alex abuses men he goes on dates with, ignores his bestie Gracie (Ashleigh Murray) and eventually, seemingly after learning that Shane is bisexual, jumps straight back into numerous bottles of wine. In summary, you’re either on board for this wild ride, or you checked out when Shane demanded Alex do 100 push ups.
Despite the film’s claims in the end credits that it’s got something important to say, The Way Out is in solid B-movie territory. While Beauchamp plays his part in earnest, Manning cranks his performance up to 11 from minute one and refuses to let something like nuance get in the way. It’s not distracting per se, but it does beg the question of whether both men think they’re in completely different films.
As hinted earlier, Shane’s murderous intent is only vaguely explored and in a manner that seems rushed. Jay has so much to say about child abuse, the aftermath of trauma, alcoholism, and homophobia, you’ll be surprised how little is left on the clock when Alex finally twigs what’s going on with his housemate.
By no means a bad film, The Way Out is an enjoyable headscratcher. Despite its bleak tone and subject matter, it is sometimes delivered with a veneer of camp that suggests it’s really aiming to be ironic all along.
