Adapted from the indie horror game, Exit 8 proves that, in capable hands, even the simplest of premises can be crafted into a creepy, unnerving, and surprisingly poignant film. I’ve played the game briefly, and it’s a frustrating and redundant experience. Often described as a “walking simulator,” the game involves nothing more than walking in circles and looking for minor differences in the surrounding environment. But the new adaptation evolves from the basic nature of its origins into something greater.
What is Exit 8 about?
A man trapped in a seemingly endless subway passageway desperately searches for the only way out: Exit 8. The only way to make it there is to keep his eyes peeled and search for any anomaly, no matter how small. If he misses one, he’s immediately sent back to the beginning to restart his journey. But something darker may be lurking in the white-tiled hallways.
Exit 8 review
Yamato Kochi as ‘The Walking Man’
The first few minutes of the film unfold from a first-person perspective, capturing the exact feeling and visual style of the game it’s based on. It’s a smart use of the perspective to build the connection early before abandoning it for a stronger narrative approach. There’s nothing narratively strong about the source material, but the screenplay from Kentaro Hirase and director Genki Kawamura weaves a surprisingly impactful emotional arc into its story.
Very quickly, we learn the relationship status and emotional state of our lead, known only as ‘The Lost Man’ (Kazunari Ninomiya, Murder on the Orient Express). This information, minimal as it may be, effectively gives depth and meaning to the story, and it’s achieved naturally without the use of unrealistic exposition.
The cyclical nightmare begins almost immediately, thrusting ‘The Lost Man’ into a mostly vacant underground hallway and forcing him to complete the impossible task of finding differences upon each pass. These differences, or anomalies, range from subtle to blatant to disturbing. The horror doesn’t come from traditional jump scares, but from a sustained existence in the unknown. Audiences don’t know what’s going to happen. They don’t know what will emerge from around every corner, and they don’t know why any of this is happening. With that unknown comes an eerie tension, perfectly built and delivered through a tightly paced script and strong performances from its minimal cast of characters.
For large chunks of the movie, ‘The Lost Man’ exists in solitude. As he struggles to understand the impossible situation he’s found himself in, he has nobody to turn to, nobody to speak with, and nobody to play off. It’s a solitary performance that demands an astronomical amount of skill from its performer, and Ninomiya delivers, firing on all cylinders. He brings vulnerability and determination to the character and manages to remain compelling throughout a story that easily could have felt dull. It’s an incredible accomplishment that a movie with such a minimalistic execution and setting is able to feel so grand and expansive.
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Is Exit 8 worth watching?
Video game adaptations get a bad rap. There have been successful ones, like HBO’s The Last of Us. And my hopes are high for Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil adaptation coming later this year. But more often than not, the results have been mixed to catastrophic. But Exit 8 is probably the greatest example of an adaptation done right. It’s brisk, engaging, and effectively unnerving. Categorizing it as an adaptation feels dismissive of the creative effort put into the story, but within that category, it stands out as the best. It’s arguably the best video game adaptation of all time. It’s a successfully chilling thriller, an unnerving horror, and a surprisingly heartfelt exploration of life, regret, and self-reflection.
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