Exit Protocol 2025: A Haunting Glimpse into the Fragility of Control

There are films that entertain, and then there are films that linger — unsettling you long after the credits fade. Exit Protocol belongs firmly to the latter. Directed by Matthew Rankin and starring Naomi Watts, John Cho, and rising talent Kiara Morgan, Exit Protocol is a psychological techno-thriller that examines the perils of artificial intelligence, surveillance, and moral erosion in a digital world where data knows us better than we know ourselves.

The Premise: Technology, Trauma, and the Edge of Ethics

Set in a near-future Los Angeles, Exit Protocol follows Dr. Evelyn Harrow (Naomi Watts), a cognitive scientist who develops a program designed to upload human consciousness into a digital framework — ostensibly as a form of immortality. What begins as a philanthropic project to preserve the minds of terminally ill patients quickly unravels into an ethical nightmare when the system begins to evolve beyond human control.

John Cho plays Agent David Sato, a federal investigator tasked with assessing the risks of the technology after a whistleblower (Kiara Morgan) leaks evidence that uploaded consciousnesses may be trapped in perpetual loops of trauma — unable to die, unable to forget.

Performance: Naomi Watts Anchors a Complex Narrative

Naomi Watts delivers one of her most nuanced performances in years. As Dr. Harrow, she navigates a complex emotional terrain between scientific ambition, maternal guilt, and existential horror. Watts portrays Evelyn as both visionary and villain, a woman whose pursuit of transcendence blinds her to the suffering she unleashes.

John Cho, meanwhile, brings a weary humanity to Agent Sato — a man haunted by his own digital footprint, increasingly unsure if what he’s investigating is a crime or a mirror of his own conscience. Kiara Morgan, in her breakout role, is raw and magnetic as Lina, the whistleblower whose trauma is both literal and digital.

Direction and Visual Language: A Study in Controlled Chaos

Visually, Exit Protocol is a masterpiece of restraint. Cinematographer Rachel Morrison uses sterile lighting and muted palettes to evoke a world drained of warmth and humanity. The camera often lingers too long, forcing us to sit in discomfort — watching data streams flicker, faces glitch, and reality distort.

One standout scene takes place in an abandoned research facility where the walls themselves seem to hum with digital life. The sound design — a mix of electronic distortion and whispered fragments of uploaded consciousness — immerses the viewer in a kind of auditory claustrophobia.

Rankin’s directorial choices make the film as much about atmosphere as narrative. He invites the audience to experience what it feels like to lose control — to watch something beautiful turn monstrous in real time.

Themes: Control, Consent, and the Collapse of Boundaries

At its core, Exit Protocol is a meditation on control — and how fragile that concept really is. The film asks us to consider whether immortality is an act of defiance or delusion. If human consciousness can be copied, who owns the original? If digital life can feel pain, who bears the moral responsibility?

Evelyn’s downfall mirrors society’s own obsession with optimization. Her “Exit Protocol” was meant to be a safeguard — a failsafe designed to shut down digital suffering. Yet as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that even this act of mercy has been corrupted by corporate interests and personal hubris.

There’s also a deeply human thread running through the film — one about memory and forgiveness. The uploaded consciousnesses, stuck in loops of their most painful moments, become metaphors for unresolved guilt. We are all, in some sense, our own corrupted code, replaying what we cannot let go of.

Pacing and Tone: A Slow Burn with a Payoff

The pacing of Exit Protocol is deliberate — some might even say demanding. Rankin doesn’t spoon-feed exposition. Instead, he trusts his audience to follow the breadcrumbs through fragments of video logs, encrypted messages, and emotional breakdowns. The film’s second act can feel disorienting, but that’s precisely the point.

When the climax arrives — a moment involving Evelyn confronting her own uploaded consciousness — it lands with both intellectual and emotional force. It’s not an action-packed ending; it’s an existential collapse, quiet but devastating.

In its final moments, when the line between reality and simulation dissolves, Exit Protocol leaves us with a single question: if our memories can be rewritten, what remains of our humanity?

The Score and Sound Design: Music as Machine Pulse

Composer Ben Salisbury crafts a soundscape that feels less like a traditional score and more like the heartbeat of an algorithm. Industrial hums, synthetic choirs, and distorted strings pulse through the film, often syncing with Evelyn’s own rising panic.

In one particularly haunting sequence, as Evelyn listens to a digital echo of her deceased son, the score dissolves into pure static — a moment that encapsulates the emotional and sensory overload of the entire film. It’s a brilliant marriage of sound and story.

Social Commentary: The Mirror We Refuse to See

Like Ex Machina and Her, Exit Protocol is less concerned with machines than with what they reveal about us. It reflects our desperate hunger for permanence, our fear of decay, and our illusion of control in a world governed by code.

The film’s depiction of government surveillance and data ethics feels chillingly plausible. Rankin doesn’t preach — he observes. The horror emerges not from killer robots or rogue AI, but from ordinary people making compromises in the name of progress.

Verdict: A Modern Masterpiece of Techno-Psychological Cinema

Exit Protocol is not a film for everyone. Its pacing is slow, its themes heavy, and its structure complex. But for those willing to engage deeply, it offers one of the most intellectually and emotionally rewarding cinematic experiences of the decade.

It’s a film that will frustrate some, fascinate others, and challenge everyone. And in a cinematic landscape flooded with sequels and formulaic thrillers, that alone feels revolutionary.