Just three years ago, a viral game called “The Exit 8” was released. Advertised as a “walking simulator,” the game takes the player down the same subway station hallway over and over as they keep an eye out for any anomalies that shouldn’t be there. Now, director Genki Kawamura (A Hundred Flowers) has brought to life a script based on the game, which Kawamura co-wrote with Kentaro Hirase (A Hundred Flowers, Sai). Exit 8 follows a man lost in a subway station. As he tries to find his way out, he also struggles with a life-altering decision.

Before diving into this review, I feel I should preface it by saying I’ve never played the game Exit 8 is based on. This means I watched Exit 8 with fresh eyes and nothing to compare it to. The Japanese language film begins by introducing the protagonist. While he’s riding the subway to work, he gets a call from his recent ex-girlfriend that could potentially change his life. Faced with a combination of guilt and a big decision, he wanders the station halls looking for an exit. He eventually finds himself trapped in an endless loop of the same hallway. The only way he can actually make it to exit 8 is to follow the rules and keep an eye out for any anomalies. Sometimes the anomalies are small, but other times they’re like a tidal wave through the liminal space. The film is broken into chapters that examine different characters, all while giving more context to the situation the lost man finds himself in. While for the most part the film is tense, intriguing, and sometimes downright chilling, there are some aspects that leave something to be desired. Because there is a repetitive nature to the liminal space hallway, at times the film feels longer than it is simply because the audience is trapped in the hallway along with the protagonist. It might leave some wanting to reach the finish line a bit faster, but the filmmakers try to keep things interesting by showing different perspectives and trying to make the anomalies varied. It helps to create a constant sense of unease and tension, with a few good scares thrown in for the more wild moments. While it doesn’t seem this was the intention of the filmmakers, there’s also an aspect of the plot that almost comes across as pro-life. This will likely be off-putting to some audience members, but others might not interpret the events that way.

Exit 8 has a relatively small cast, focusing primarily on three men at different stages of life. Kazunari Ninomiya (Letters From Iwo Jima, Gantz) stars as the lost man. Ninomiya does a great job of showing the man at many different crossroads in his life at once. He’s working a temp job, he and his girlfriend recently broke up, and now he has a big decision to make. With all this uncertainty swirling in his head, it’s more excusable how long it took him to realize he was walking down the same stretch of hallway over and over again. Ninomiya shows the man go through the entire spectrum of emotions throughout his journey, all while discovering something about who he really is. Yamato Kochi (Antihero, Hitman from Today) plays the walking man. While for the most part we just see this character walking the hallway the same way at the same time over and over again, Kochi still gives a great performance. At times he’s just another man, then he can seem like a lifeline, while other times he seems like the most sinister person the lost man could possibly encounter. Then there’s young Naru Asanuma making his feature film debut as the boy. A mysterious figure who appears in the hallway, it’s not immediately clear if he’s an anomaly or a real person. Asanuma doesn’t speak much in the film, but he still makes sure the audience will remember him.

At first, the visuals of Exit 8 seem simplistic. The film opens by showing a first person point of view through the lost man’s eyes. It isn’t until he’s trapped in the loop that it switches to a third person view of the situation at hand. The story exists in a liminal space, so really audiences are seeing the same hallway repeatedly. Yet with some variation and clever camera work, it feels like a bigger world than what the eye sees. Through smart camera angles and interesting editing, it often does feel like the protagonist is walking endlessly through many tunnels that just look the same, rather than the exact same tunnel on an endless loop. When it comes to the anomalies, some are so small you might miss them. Others are somewhat unnerving, such as the walking man suddenly standing behind the lost man with a sinister grin on his face. Then there are some anomalies that are blatantly obvious and horrifying to behold. These various anomalies help keep the repetition interesting while also keeping the audience on edge until the very end. Most of the film was created practically, which is great, but there are a few anomalies that were brought to life with CGI. Luckily, these CGI elements are well done and only briefly shown. Exit 8 also incorporates some great sound design. During the first person shots, the lost man uses headphones to block out the subway noise and take phone calls. It takes the audience from moments of quiet calm to moments of chaotic noise and back. There is also a running theme of a crying baby which can be heard at different times throughout the film, making for a very unsettling auditory experience.

Exit 8 is a compelling video game adaptation, taking a more simplistic approach to liminal spaces and the horrors of guilt and indecision. Kawamura has done a wonderful job of taking a fairly simple video game concept and turning it into a film. While I can’t speak to how true to the game this film is, from the brief gameplay and images I’ve seen, I’d say these filmmakers did a pretty good job, all while trying to create more of a background story for the protagonist. The possible pro-life interpretation potentially takes away a bit from the plot, and the looping does get a little tiresome after a while, but the anomalies help to deliver plenty of suspense. Ninomiya gives a worthy leading performance and the visual elements creating the endless stretch of subway station hall are incredibly well done. Be sure to see Exit 8 exclusively in theaters this Friday, April 10th.

OVERALL RATING: 6/10