The Ex Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Ex Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 14, 2025

Mark L. Lester's "The Ex" (1996) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Dark Force Entertainment and Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include new program with actress Yancy Butler; new program with actor Nick Mancuso; and vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The unhinged

Unhinged, dangerously violent women like Yancy Butler’s character are a cultural phenomenon fostered entirely by the contemporary West. They do have relatives in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and South America. However, outside the West, their numbers are minuscule, and more importantly, they cannot cause the same damage. In the West, they can roam free, and some laws even protect certain aspects of their toxic behavior.

While visiting a construction site in a busy area of Vancouver, successful architect David Kenyon (Nick Mancuso) bumps into his ex-wife (Butler), who has just arrived in town. The two end up in a nearby bistro and quickly update each other on the progress they have made after their separation, and then part ways, with Kenyon assuming that their encounter is final. However, a day later, at a fancy gym, the ex-wife approaches Kenyon’s current wife (Suzy Amis), and the two end up at a café, where the former, while pretending to be a pediatric psychiatrist from Chicago looking to relaunch her practice in Vancouver, agrees to help. The Kenyons have been unable to figure out why their little boy has become uncharacteristically aggressive, and the ex-wife could be the right specialist to diagnose and help him. Then, while working with the little boy, the ex-wife and the current wife discover that they have a lot in common and become good friends.

However, at the same time, the ex-wife reengages Kenyon and declares that she intends to win him back, or if he chooses to resist her plan, destroy him and the family he has started. When Kenyon rejects her and threatens to send her back to the mental institution that treated her during the final days of their disastrous marriage and after its termination, all hell breaks loose.

Mark L. Lester’s thriller goes down the same path that much better-known films like Play Misty for Me and Fatal Attraction have walked, so it is hardly surprising that the characterizations it produces and its final destination are extremely familiar.

In Lester’s thriller, the ex-wife does a lot of damage for identical reasons, too. When Kenyon agrees to have a drink with her at the bistro, she is already on a suicide mission, and it is the former’s failure to immediately act accordingly that allows her to initiate the damage. Later, a male lawyer capable of stopping the ex-wife chooses to remain passive for personal safety reasons. In other words, the ex-wife goes on offense, stays on offense, and does serious damage because of indecisive and weak men.

The final twenty minutes are the least effective. They are filled with overly melodramatic material, leaving the impression that Lester is trying to delay the predictable resolution for as long as possible. In the real world, either the ex-wife would have already executed her sinister plan and self-destructed, or her former husband would have gone berserk and taken her out in the most efficient way possible.

The leads are good. However, in a couple of sequences, Butler mismanages her intensity and her actions become unbelievable. Mancuso looks terrific, though the kind of man he plays would not have married a psycho woman like the one who wreaks havoc in his life. Amis must remain naïve for a bit too long, but still looks very good.

The Ex was lensed by Richard Leiterman, who is probably best known for his work on the TV mini-series It.

The Ex Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Ex arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Dark Force Entertainment and Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an exclusive new master, approved by director Mark L. Lester. The overall quality of the presentation is very similar to that of Groupie, another more recent Lester film that was also released on Blu-ray thanks to Dark Force Entertainment. I felt that, in a few areas, some visuals had a slightly coarse appearance, but even they looked very good on my system. I did not encounter any traces of problematic digital corrections. Color reproduction and balance are convincing. The daylight footage boasts solid, nicely saturated, but not too strong, healthy colors. During indoor and darker nighttime footage, a few ranges of darker nuances could appear a tad too thick, but everything still looks good. Image stability is excellent. It seems fair to describe the surface of the visuals as clean. However, during the opening credits you will see some small nicks and dark spots, and later, even a few tiny blemishes. In summary, The Ex has a stable, healthy, and attractive appearance on Blu-ray. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

The Ex Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

While a B-film, The Ex is very carefully scored so that its drama appears as tense as possible. This, of course, is something that only further exaggerates a few of its production limitations, but it is how a lot of B-films were made during the 1990s. It also means that during the action material you should expect some pretty dramatic dynamic contrasts, which, the lossless track reproduces very, very well. The dialogue is always very clear, easy to follow, and stable. I did not encounter any age-related anomalies to report in our review.

The Ex Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Playing Certifiable - in this new program, Yancy Butler recalls how she came across the screenplay for The Ex and explains why it appealed to her, and discusses her bad character and what it took to prepare for her. Butler also comments on her interactions with Mark L. Lester before the intense sex material was shot and explains why she turned down a few embellishments, as well as her interactions with Nick Mancuso, whom she had just met. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• Keeping Secrets - in this new program, Nick Mancuso discusses his involvement with The Ex and its production in Vancouver, where he was spending a lot of time during the 1990s. Mancuso also comments on his character, whom he describes as a guy "trying to maintain his humanity", as well as his interactions with Yancy Butler and Mark L. Lester. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for The Ex. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

The Ex Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As the 1990s ended, good B-films like The Ex, which typically emerged from several well-known independent distributors, effectively disappeared. There were similar bigger studio projects, like Single White Female and The Temp, that were pretty good too, but the variety on the market and exciting discoveries that people were happy to make were made possible by smaller films like The Ex. I recall renting it on VHS, but my catalog tells me that I never owned a copy of it. I am glad The Ex made it to Blu-ray because it is very nicely done, a real blast from the past. Hopefully, Dark Force Entertainment and Kino Lorber will consider other similar B-films from the 1990s and present them on Blu-ray. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.