Exit 8

Grade: B

I’m already hearing rumblings about a potential American remake of Exit 8. I’d be on board with that. It joins my very short list (which includes Thappad, Piggy, and It Was Just an Accident) of foreign films that I would be interested to see a remake of, be it from America or another country. It’s funny to think how maybe the best Exit 8 remains to be made (though I liked this one just fine). On the other hand, any retread might yield diminishing returns, and this Exit 8 will always be the superior O.G. I can see it going either way. It’s like when a famous artist makes reference recordings of their new songs, playing every instrument – then it’s up to the session musicians to “beat the demo.”

None of the characters have names. Kazunari Ninomiya, the star, is known only as Lost Man. He is finishing a commute on the Tokyo subway. A man on the train begins yelling at a woman with a crying baby. She sits there and passively apologizes, while nobody on the crowded train comes to her defense. He then receives a call from his ex-girlfriend, informing him that she’s pregnant. The reception isn’t great down there, but what he’s able to hear indicates that she’s unsure of whether or not to keep it. Lost Man has apprehensions about being a father. He couldn’t even muster the courage to stand up to the obnoxious man berating the mother earlier. How can he be a parent?

On his way out, it feels like there are more exits than usual. After rounding a few more corners, he realizes he’s trapped in a loop, as the hallways keep repeating. Finally, he notices instructions on a placard. If he sees anything different, he must turn the opposite way. If he doesn’t catch any anomalies, he is to continue. Either way, if he’s correct, he will advance to the next exit. He needs to get it right eight consecutive times. Any mistake will set him back to Exit 0, where he must try again. This is a good time to mention that the film is based on a video game. It was fun to see if I could spot any anomalies before he did.

Thankfully, this isn’t all we get. The second half of the movie introduces other characters, and that’s all I can say. It’s broken up into chapters with titles, but again, I shouldn’t even begin to tell you who is involved, or why, or what these sequences are called. Symbolism is involved, with varying degrees of detectability. There’s a Groundhog Day connection here. Lost Man is stuck repeating the same experience over and over again, only being allowed to advance when he gets it right.

My eyes were glued to the screen during the final shot. I don’t think I blinked. I was hoping he would get it right this time. Most of it looks as if he will once again do nothing, then the very last split second sees him turning away, hinting that he may finally do what I was trying to manifest. It’s not saying much, but Exit 8 is the best video game adaptation playing in theaters now. They were able to take a repetitive medium, and give it texture. Nice demo. Let’s see if another country can beat it.

Grade: B