Title – Exit 8 (2025)

Director – Genki Kawamura (A Hundred Flowers)

Cast – Kazunari Ninomiya, Yamato Kochi, Naru Asanuma

Plot – On his way to work, the Lost Man (Ninomiya) becomes desperate to escape a subway station he has become trapped in as its endless loop threatens to drive him mad.  

“Turn back”

Review by Eddie on 22/07/2026

Over the past few years the movie and TV industry has latched onto the video game adaptation market in the a big way, with the likes of heavy hitters such as The Minecraft Movie and Super Mario leading the charge at box office’s around the globe, all the while other film/tv adaptations like Fallout, The Last of Us, Mortal Kombat, Until Dawn and (dare I mention its name) Borderlands released around them.

With this in mind, one adaptation that seemed unlikely to gain much traction was that of Japanese hit indie The Exit 8 finding its way onto the big screen but thanks to director Genki Kawamura, Exit 8 has against the odds become one of the past years sleeper hits, doing big business in its home country and even taking home an award at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Remaining faithful to the game on which it is based upon, Exit 8 is a psychological thriller/horror with more than a touch of The Shining in its DNA, as it follows Kazunari Ninomiya’s Lost Man, Yamato Kochi’s The Walking Man and Naru Asanuma’s The Boy in a nightmarish loop in a Japanese subway station where they all find themselves seemingly stuck in an otherworldly situation they must overcome to find freedom.

It’s a simplistic set-up much like the game and one that can be taken in various ways metaphorically throughout its journey but after a really strong opening that includes great use of classic musical piece Bolero by Ravel and a well-used extended POV shot, Exit 8 gives way (by nature and design of its very concept) to a repetitive structure that feels long after the first 30 minutes, making Kawamura’s 90 minute exercise one that runs out of steam more than a few times across its thankfully brief runtime.

Initially, especially for someone like me who was viewing the film from a fresh perspective not having played the games prior to watching, Exit 8 seems ripe for some fantastic psychological horror and unnerving happenings but while Kawamura has tried to turn this very simple idea into something more with explorations of parenthood, daily life grinds and the insanity of the rat race most of us find ourselves in, once we’ve walked past the same posters on a wall for the 10th time interest levels in the film wane accordingly.

The three main performers acquit themselves well and attempt to do a lot with not a lot, including the films minimal sets, while Exit 8’s moody score from composers Shouhei Amimori and Yasutaka Nakata is worthy of being noted but no matter the amount of mood or atmosphere that’s generated here, there’s no hiding from the fact there’s an inescapable simplicity to Exit 8’s core being that would’ve suited itself to a short film rather than a feature length one.

Sure to find a life in the cult film circuit in some capacity, there’s clearly an audience for Exit 8 based off audience reception and box office takings, but one wonders what they’re seeing or going to see from a film that is basically a tunnel walking simulator come to life.

Final Say –

A niche film that is going to work with keen viewers but likely be more of a chore for those less initiated with the source material or for those not enthused by the prospect of wondering the same tunnels over and over for 90 minutes, Exit 8 has done well to breakout despite its tiresome concept and basic narrative.

2 anomalies out of 5