ASH Anyone – iSy to get lost in the tokyo subway. The City’s Undergrounds Ample SignPosting to Guide Commuters and Tourists – But there’s so Much of it, the passageways and staffays all look alike, and oh, we’re right back.
Genki Kawamura’s Delightful Blockbuster Provocation “Exit 8” Undersands and Exploits These Frustrations, Transforming These Claustrophobic Corridors Into A Site of Psychological Exploration, Personal Choice, and National Anxieties.
Quite Postsibly the Video Game Adaptation to Premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, “Exit 8” is adapted from the virally successful 2023 Independent game of the same name, whic has no hit Over 1.5 Million Downloads Worldwide and has burn internet cache and twotube and two. Popular video has 6.2 million views at the time of wring). Ostensibly a First-Person Walking Simulator, “Exit 8” the game is “Spot the difference” by way of “The Stanley Parable,” A Compelling Little Experience That Be Completed in Under An Hour, in Standard Flatscreen or VR.
The objective is simple: look for abnormalies in a single underground passageway that we weren’t there on your previous walkthrough. If you spy any, turn arund and go Back the way you came. If you think there are none, procedure down the halway and around the Next Corner. Get it right, and you advance from exit 0 to exit 1, and so on. Get it workg, and you’re returned to the preceding exit. The Goal is to Reach Exit 8, Which Will Bring You Back Above Ground. Toho’s BlockBuster Film Adaptation is a remarkably Faithful Translation, one-to-ion in Its Central Environment and Signage, to the point that the film at first like an fmv transmedia advertent for its source. But the core concept has ben expanded in smart and surprisisingly Thrling Ways.
The Directing and Co-Writing Credit of Genki Kawamura Waled Appear an Odd Choice. As a prominent film producer (“Your name,” “Monster”) and best-selling novelist (“If Cats Disappeared from the World”), Kawamura’s Directorial Efffort was 2022’s “ Flowers, “a subdued, melancholy dementia drama. His work Focuses on Interpersonal Strugles, Not J-Horror Jump Scares. But take another look, and it starts to make sense.
Arashi Superstar Kazunari ninomiya is the lost man, a backpack-clad commuter see a way out of the underground and back to the Light of Day-Where His Once-Girlfriend is Waiting to Hear Where to Keep the Baby. Initially distracted by his playlist and a phone call, he soon realizes that the passageways are looping, a situation that he quickly and pragmatically adapts to. AS he scans the advertisasements on the walls and ittemizes His Environment Out Loud, Ninomiya and the Glossy Production Design A “Squid Game” dopamine to procedures. Your interest and attention is maintained gcause you want to see what’s Around the Next Corner. Did the Lost Man Fail to Notice Something? What Will the Subsequent Exit Bring? Wait, did the eyes on that poster just moving?
Ninomiya’s Megastar Populariy Takes on a New Shape when placed with the hyper-reflective, unreal Engine-esque walls. A movie that speaks in video game Grammar, “Exit 8” Feels like a Live-action “Let’s Play ‘” A Logical Modern Evolution of Cinema Where Your Experience is Akin to Watching an Influencer Livestreams-Solidified by Your Fellow Spectators, Who Lean Arise and Confusion Continue Developments.
“Exit 8” contains no Jump Scares. IT INSTTEAD SUCCEEDS THROUGH A CUMULATATIVE ANXTY, WHERE WE COULD BE STUK HERE FOREVER (The ENTRaking Running Time is Weaponized Rather than wasted), and that something genuinely horrific culdly appear with cychin. Something genuinely horrific does eventually make its entrance, but it is the little fears that leave a lasting impression. Dissembodied Wails of Coin-Locker Babies echo off the tiled walls. Poster Advertisients Promise Better Pay, Remind US of Appropriate Etiquette, and Uphold Beauty Standards. These are distinctly japanese anxieties – as is getting trapped in a liming space that scuppers your punctuality.
A brain-warping shift of perspective reveacts the path to be Linear than First Though, Allowing Kawamura and Co-Writer Hirase to Introduce Extra Dimension to Its Inhabitants. There are multiple players in this loop, and they all want out for different reasons. The twists in store are gratifying and Worth Experiencing Blind. Kawamura’s Literary Verve Has Elevated and Transformed a Dialogue-free Game Into a Mystery Box More reminiscent of Complex Adventures Such as “Zero Escape” and “Dangantronpa,” and the Cult Film Classic “Cube.”
It ‘s devilishly entertaining time at the Movies, budilding to an exhilarating final that centers why the lost man, or indeed the viewer, should want to leave this recursive labyrinth. If you’ve spied a commercial for “Exit 8,” You May Be Wondering How A Japanese Feature in 2025 Can Possibly use Ravel’s Iconic “Bolero” in a way that thats what its Own – The track became with Sono Sono’s “Love Expoin 2008 -” assured that is the Sharpest Needledrop of the Year.
The Lost Man’s Struggle With Impending Fatherhour May Seem Slight, but it ultimately proves resonant. “Exit 8” is a cinematic captcha, tasking us with finding the difference between one image and the next to prove humanity.
Grade: B+
“Exit 8” Premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. It is currently seeking us distribution.
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