Humans

Next Exit film review: New tale of the afterlife takes a wrong turn

Two volunteers sign up for euthanasia to help a research project when evidence of consciousness after death emerges. The idea’s great, but the script could use a bit more life

By Simon Ings

22 February 2023

Next Exit

Mali Elfman

Apple TV

FROM out of nowhere, a chink of light appears. With painful slowness, it grows stronger: we are inching towards a half-open door. Beyond the door, everything seems normal. A little boy plays a game of pretend. At least, that is what we think. Soon enough we learn what is really going on: he is playing cards with his dead father.

Nothing else in Mali Elfman’s debut feature lives up to this unsettling opening, though there is a sight gag referencing Greek underworld legend that…