No Exit (French: Huis clos, pronounced [ɥi klo]) is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. The play was first performed at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in May 1944. The play centers on a depiction of the afterlife in which three deceased characters are punished by being locked into a room together for eternity. It is the source of Sartre's especially famous phrase "L'enfer, c'est les autres" or "Hell is other people", a reference to Sartre's ideas about the look and the perpetual ontological struggle of being caused to see oneself as an object from the view of another consciousness. English translations have also been performed under the titles In Camera, No Way Out, Vicious Circle, Behind Closed Doors, and Dead End.
Adaptations (2)
No Exit has been adapted into 2 films, from 1962 to 2020. The most recent is Friend of the World (2020).
No Exit1962 · film · 85 min · dir. Tad Danielewski, Orson Welles · IMDb ↗IMDb6.7The Valet enters a hotel room with Joseph Garcin in tow. The windowless room has a single entrance and no mirrors. Two women, Inès Serrano and Estelle Rigault, are then led in; afterwards, the Valet leaves and locks the door. Realising that they are in hell, the trio expects to be tortured; however, no torturer is forthcoming. While waiting, they strike up a conversation and discuss each other's sins, desires, and unpleasant memories. Adaptation of the play by Jean-Paul Sartre.
Friend of the World2020 · film · 50 min · dir. Brian Patrick Butler · IMDb ↗IMDb4.691%After a catastrophic war, an eccentric general leads a filmmaker through a bunker as paranoia escalates and reality begins to fracture. Blending dark comedy with psychological and body horror, this post-apocalyptic thriller explores isolation, storytelling, and the fragile boundary between truth and delusion.
