Exit 8: A Well-Made Feature-Length Video Game Adaptation That Should've Been a Short (Blu-ray)

The Film:

Back in 2023, a little game called "The Exit 8" popped up from Kotake Create with a rather simple premise that had players walking through a metro station tunnel as they try to spot inaccuracies or anomalies in order to make it to the exit. The game received mostly positive reviews, with many praising its realism & horror aspects, while others deemed it too short with little replay value. However, despite such criticisms, filmmaker Genki Kawamura decided to try his hand at bringing the game's concept to the big screen (dropping "The" from the title in the process), which is always quite a risky venture in regards to any video game property, one that sadly seems to end in disappointment the vast majority of the time. Will this be one of the lucky few that actually makes the transition successfully, or will it merely be another case of an idea that should've stayed on gamers' screens?

The film primarily follows a character known as "The Lost Man" (Kazunari Ninomiya), who is on his way home when he receives a call from his ex-girlfriend. She informs him that she is pregnant with his child and asks him what to do about it. However, before he is able to give an answer, he loses the connection and finds himself stuck in an endlessly repeating tunnel of the subway station. After reading some instructions on the wall, he learns that he must look for anomalies in the corridor, going forward if he doesn't spot any, but turning back if he does in order to move forward. If he reaches Exit 8, he'll be able to leave, but if he makes any mistakes, the corridor will reset to 0. It starts off somewhat easy, but as he proceeds, even stranger things begin to happen as he desperately tries to make his escape.

From its onset, "Exit 8" seemed like a very odd choice for a film adaptation. After all, as others had already pointed out, the game is pretty short, and that's not to mention that the idea doesn't particularly lend itself to being made into a feature-length film. However, it did have some strengths going for it, including an intriguing concept and the potential for some claustrophobic thrills, all of which could potentially lead to an uncomfortable nightmare that leaves the viewer feeling trapped along with its characters, but all of that would, of course, come down to how well its ideas are used in the film's screenplay, as written by Kawamura & Kentaro Hirase.

In that regard, they are partially successful, creating a technically-impressive, chilling atmosphere, one that comes with some rather odd occurrences that try to keep things moving along for these 90 minutes, but as one can expect from the very nature of its premise, it does start to get rather repetitive pretty quickly. Obviously we've had other films in the past that use a fair amount of repetition, and we've seen it work quite well, but not usually in such quick succession as this. Again, its chief criticisms were that it's a short game with little replay value, and indeed, the film feels like we're merely watching the characters try to beat the game over and over again, which doesn't lead to a whole lot of compelling material for the audience to get engaged with.

By the time the film reaches its conclusion, its repetitiveness has worn it quite thin, ultimately leaving the viewer with the big question of why this was made into a stretched-out feature when it would have clearly worked far better as a short film. That's not saying that the feature version is particularly bad, for it does have an interesting concept and is well-made, but rather that there just isn't really enough substance to justify turning such a simple idea into a 90-minute outing. It was a valiant effort, but sometimes video game properties just aren't a great fit for the big screen, ultimately leaving us with an adaptation that should've gone a different route.

Video/Audio:

"Exit 8" comes to Blu-ray in a 1.85:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of outstanding quality, featuring a perfectly clear & sharp picture throughout its entire 95-minute duration. Likewise, the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in excellent quality. Overall, NEON has done a great job in both areas for the film's physical debut.

Special Features:

The Making of Exit 8 (59 Minutes): An in-depth look behind the scenes of the film, featuring interviews with cast & crew.

Q&A with Writer/Director Genki Kawamura (12 Minutes): Interviews with Kawamura & cast members conducted at the Busan International Film Festival.

Conclusion:

Genki Kawamura's "Exit 8" is a valiant attempt at adapting the popular 2023 video game for the big screen, bringing with it an intriguing concept and some technically-impressive effects, but sadly the concept's repetitive nature wears it quite thin in execution, giving the film a rather stretched-out & padded feeling that seems to testify as to why this should've been made into a short film instead, ultimately leaving us with an adaptation that doesn't quite work as a feature-length film.

Score: 3/5

Available on Blu-ray starting tomorrow.

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