“Exit 8,” the walking simulator game, has been adapted into a movie directed by Genki Kawamura. The game by Kotake Create was released in November of 2023, and while the film was released last year in Japan, it only recently came out April 10 in the U.S. The film has an uncertain and surreal feel, definitely with inspiration from the internet phenomenon, “The Backrooms,” a series of videos about liminal spaces that feel vaguely familiar and unsettling.
In “Exit 8,” A man gets stuck in an endless passage of a subway station when he is on his way to work. He notices he is looping around continuously and finds himself back at the beginning, exit zero. It’s clean and bright but deserted, opening the movie with an eerie feel. He quickly realizes it’s a game, and he must follow the rules defined on the wall to make it through all “exits” or loops until he gets to exit 8. His rules are simple but easy to miss: Don’t overlook or pass by any “anomaly” or something unusual. If he notices anything, he must turn back immediately, and if there is nothing, continue moving forward. If he does not follow the rules correctly, he will find himself back at the start.
The film begins following “The lost man,” played by Kazunari Ninomiya, who navigates this “game” or challenge to make it out. Other featured characters are “the boy,” played by Naru Asanuma, and “The walking man,” played by Yamato Kochi. It isn’t stuck in one perspective or point of view. The lost man, the walking man, and the boy each get a brief moment or chapter in the film, following them and their story or background. The boy and the walking man’s characters’ stories are uniquely shown after the introduction of the game and a good portion of the film. This invites curiosity throughout and adds to the mystery of the game. The walking man himself actually comes up as a seemingly flat character until it switches to his perspective, so these moments were a great addition. It made things more interesting and gave depth to the story, providing a bit more background on the characters featured and the game itself.
Aspects like liminal space and the mental stress of the game itself add to the “horror” aspect of the movie. The discomfort that comes with being stuck in an ominous space, without much knowledge of where you are or what to do is what makes it stressful, but very intriguing to watch. The sound and music also feature some recurring samples and ambient noise that were a really good addition to the uncanny feeling of this film.
Since the film is in Japanese and I watched it subbed, it was notable to me that there wasn’t a whole lot of talking, especially at the beginning. It stays a little more surface level, not diving too deep into a narrative, which fits the tone. Many game adaptations add too much, and it distracts or distances them too much from the true game. While that works sometimes, for this, the minimal narrative is much more effective.
Some of the focus shifts in the movie felt a little confusing and random at times. It definitely has a few flaws. For a good bit, it’s engaging, and the plot keeps rising, but the repetitiveness in the setting and the game can get a little hard to follow. It begins by grabbing your attention, then slows a bit in between, which makes it get a bit boring, however, it eventually picks up again.
Overall, this was a great movie. I didn’t know what to expect since I am unfamiliar with the game. However, this proved to be no problem and honestly a plus. It makes everything that much better going in a bit blindly. It is now out on Prime Video and showing in select theaters, the closest one being Grapevine Mills. So whether you’ve heard of it or not, go see it!
