The Way Out: Review

4th October 2023

Alex (Johnny Beauchamp) is struggling with a lot of things in his life. He grew up with an abusive father who beat out all the confidence he had inside him, but he is still forced to live with him. He took to dealing with his father by turning to drink, something from which he is recovering, but every day is a journey.

Then one day, Alex finds his father dead and inexplicably, grief starts to take over. Needing to find somebody to help him pay the bills, Shane (Mike Manning) moves in and Alex’s issues with his own sexuality start to come to the surface, which leads them to start a relationship.

However, it all seems too one sided as Shane’s domineering personality pushes Alex to do things that he never thought he would. What starts out as a way to deal with his mourning period turns into something far more dangerous for Alex.

The Way Out is a thriller written and directed by Barry Jay which deals with many issues including abusive relationships, toxic masculinity and alcoholism. The story starts out well and all the cast do a great job dealing with such difficult issues, but there are still some things that let it down in the end.

As soon as Shane comes in, Alex knows that he’s in trouble in some way and to the audience Shane’s intentions soon become clear. Manning plays Shane with all the manipulative menace that you may imagine from a man like him and it feels real. Anybody could get into a relationship with somebody like Shane and The Way Out shows the realism in being caught in one far too easily.

However, despite it playing out well for the most part, it feels like director Jay didn’t really know how to end the story. This ultimately may leave the audience divided as the final ten minutes feel like they’re from another movie going to far fetched levels to wrap things up.

For a movie that shows a kind of relationship which is rarely seen in cinema, it’s a shame that it ends on such a generic note.

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