Video Game movies have often struggled to win critical acclaim, failing to recreate the magic of the source material. The only ones that have gotten any box-office reaction are the ones aimed at kids (Super Mario and Sonic), and they had simple plots. There are certainly plenty of adaptations that have had huge success as a TV series (Fallout, The Last of Us), with many, many more in the works, which particularly benefits games with a big world and many characters to explore. We’ve had attempts at the specific genre of horror with a location loop, like Until Dawn (barely watchable).

Exit 8 follows a man who realises he is trapped in an underground station. The only way he can progress is by noticing if there are any anomalies in the corridor, and he can only progress if he successfully works out if there are any anomalies or not.

So I’ve seen a couple of Youtubers/streamers play the game this film is based on, and other games which use the same premise, I wasn’t convinced about how well that would translate to a film, dragging it out for about 90 minutes. I actually think this film is clever in how it uses the premises.

It frames the premise with the story of a man who has just been told by his ex that she’s pregnant and doesn’t know what to do before the call cuts out. The film also has 3 different characters who’s story all interlink about how they got into this scenario. It’s really cleverly done and really cleverly made. A lot of care clearly went into crafting the film, and going at from the right angle but writer and director Genki Kawamura.

With the nature of the premise, you’re trying to find the anomalies before the characters do, that keeps the audience engaged, as well as the frustration (in a good way) when you find it but the character doesn’t, almost like a murder mystery where you’ve picked up a clue when the characters haven’t.

The small cast does a decent enough job. The film splits into 3 stories which all focus on one of the particular characters. I think all of their parts do add to it, and help flesh out interesting ideas in what is a very stripped back concept, and could’ve offered nothing more, or something lazy.

Overall, Exit 8 is a simple psychological horror that adapts the premise from the game extremely effectively. Decent performances from the small cast, and the nature of the premise keeps you engaged the entire time. Not a groundbreaking one, but thoroughly enjoyable and one of the best in the video game adaptation category. I can see this film either getting a sequel, or an American adaptation, as there is room to adapt it and see how the corridor traps other people and the other bizarre anomalies.

What did you think of Exit 8?

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