By Robert Scucci
| Published
As we continue to march forward into an uncertain future, the idea of voluntarily euthanizing yourself seems all the more appealing with each passing day – especially in this economy. I’m not saying that I’m going to tap out early – I’m still waiting for National Treasure 3 – but if you want to see this idea explored with a healthy amount of comic relief, then you most definitely want to check out Next Exit the next time you’re looking for something to watch on Hulu.
Playing out like the worst version of The Odd Couple, Next Exit puts two unlikely strangers in the same car as they drive across the country to their final destination, which is an afterlife that seems way more appealing than their current situations.
Life Beyond’s Controversial Research
Next Exit centers on the idea that an afterlife exists after Dr. Stevenson’s (Karen Gillan) company, Life Beyond, proves in no uncertain terms that consciousness lives on after the physical body dies. Looking for willing participants to test out the theory, which could have a positive overall impact on humanity, Life Beyond recruits a number of world-weary individuals to help them with their trials.
Two of those participants, Rose (Katie Parker) and Teddy (Rahul Kohil), who would love nothing more than to travel in solitude to their respective suicides, are forced to share a rental car when they have no other options, and immediately don’t get along.
Rose is the quiet half of the ready-to-die duo in Next Exit, while Teddy tries to make conversation, which immediately gets shut down in most instances. As they warm up to each other and share their reasons behind their decisions to participate in Life Beyond’s experiment, they become sort-of friends, who decide it’s probably best to help each other carry out some bucket list items before finally departing from their respective mortal coils.
With a bond that grows stronger by the hour, Teddy and Rose risk being late to their own suicides because they’re both drinking heavily, and both suffering from the kind of existential crisis you’d expect when following two characters who have decided that the best thing to do with their lives is end them.
Surprisingly Wholesome, Given The Circumstances
Treading down a familiar narrative path, Next Exit thrives off the implication that Rose and Teddy will stumble upon some sort of life-altering revelation that forces them to realize that maybe life isn’t so bad after all.
The problem, however, is that as they learn more about themselves and each other, the more complicated their journey becomes.
Knowing that they won’t have to worry about anything ever again should they follow through the Life Beyond experiment, Rose and Teddy can either stick to their guns and enjoy the afterlife, forego the experiment and continue to suffer, or figure out exactly what drove them to Life Beyond in the first place, reevaluate their current situations, and give life another shot after unpacking and confronting their personal demons along the way.
What’s most startling about Next Exit is just how comfortable everybody living in its fiction is about the idea of voluntary euthanization as a means to cope with life’s struggles. Raising the question about whether taking the easy way out is the most viable, or ethical, way to handle the trials and tribulations of modern existence, Next Exit is currently streaming on Hulu the next time you’re feeling existential and find yourself looking for answers you may not want to hear.
