I had the opportunity to check out Exit 8, directed by Genki Kawamura, at the Overlook Film Festival, and I was pleasantly surprised! Exit 8 is based on a video game released in 2023. I have watched the gameplay on YouTube, but I am too scared to play. While I hadn’t seen a trailer, I already had some expectations about the vibe and plot of the film. The premise of the movie and the game are the same: a traveler is trapped in the subway and must detect anomalies to free themself. I appreciate the films adding a few layers because the game is short. Ultimately, Exit 8 is an effective video game adaptation that is worth watching whether you are familiar with the game or not.
Have We Been Here Before?
Usually, when I think of video game adaptations, House of the Dead, Doom, Until Dawn, and Resident Evil come to mind. Although some of these films have cult followings, they are not great adaptations of the games they represent. I have always been confused about the disconnect that happens when a game is transferred to the big screen. There is usually plenty of lore and backstory to pull from, yet the films tend to butcher the stories and upset the fans.
I think Exit 8, being a straightforward game that drops you into the panic of being trapped quickly, works for the film. Instead of having to incorporate existing lore, Kentaro Hirase and Genki Kawamura were able to bring their own ideas to the table without upsetting fans. They also mimicked the vibe from the game, so it feels like a proper adaptation. Yutaka Motegi deserved all of the flowers for recreating the subway station from the video game. The set and the POV shots make the viewer feel fully immersed. Also, many of the scares and unsettling moments are built into the set.
What’s New?
Exit 8 differs from the game by adding multiple perspectives. The game spends the entire play time with one person trying to escape. The movie shows what happens to other characters who experienced being trapped like the Lost Man (Kazunari Ninomiya). We get a little backstory on the Walking Man (Yamato Kochi), who you have likely seen if you’ve seen the trailer. The different perspectives help to keep the movie fresh. It is easy for a movie like Exit 8 to feel like Groundhog Day due to the premise. It seems that only people holding onto guilt or negative emotions get trapped. Both men are dealing with familial connections and navigating fatherhood. There have been a lot of horror films that have incorporated child abandonment, abortion, or the fear of parenthood; however, none of them have dealt with those topics in satisfying ways.
I respect the effort to give the Lost Man a character arc, although it was highly predictable. I did not feel the weight of his struggle to choose or avoid fatherhood. We did not spend enough time learning about him or his relationship with his partner (Nana Komatsu). All we know is they aren’t together, but the breakup is recent enough to connect them through a newfound pregnancy. The situation somehow loops back to the boy the Lost Man finds in the train station. How and when the boy communicated made my blood pressure go up.
Is This a Trap?
I enjoyed the scares and the overall creepiness of the subway station. However, I felt like the movie was ragebaiting me just to extend the runtime. At times the Lost Man would go through a level quickly, at other times he would stare an anomaly in the face until it was about to bite him. After restarting several times, I would think that the character would eventually become more decisive when confronted with an anomaly. I understand that characters have to make certain choices, or we wouldn’t have a movie, but his indecisiveness was infuriating. That may be a tie-in to his character, because he’s currently navigating uncertainty. However, his indecision is not fun to watch after seeing him go past the same white tiles several times.
Luckily, the runtime is short, so I didn’t have time to get exhausted from trudging through the levels. Again, the perspective shift helped to keep me engaged with the story. I would recommend Exit 8 as a solid video adaptation that is worth watching!
