Exit 8 film review: Trapped underground
Genki Kawamura’s subway nightmare turns a simple premise into a tense, emotionally charged slice of modern J-horror
Every commuter’s worst nightmare becomes a terrifying reality in this smart, stripped-back Japanese horror from Genki Kawamura, co-written with Kentaro Hirase. Set amid the frighteningly bright passageways of the Tokyo Metro, Exit 8 is based on the 2023 indie videogame and follows The Lost Man (Kazunari Ninomiya) on his way to a temp job. After witnessing an unpleasant altercation on a train, involving a new mother, her screaming infant and a bad-tempered passenger, he takes a call from his ex (Nana Komatsu) who reveals she is pregnant. When the call cuts out as he travels underground, our protagonist finds himself trapped in a never-ending loop of tunnels, unable to locate the eponymous way out.
With its devilish simplicity and limited setting, this is a tense, repetitive but often ingenious watch which, like the best of its genre, mines horror from the everyday. Divided into chapters, Exit 8 introduces us to others who have become trapped in this maze (Yamato Kôchi’s The Walking Man, Kotone Hanase’s The High School Girl and Naru Asanuma’s The Boy), while taking our hero on an emotional journey, during which he confronts his own failings and feelings about parenthood, underpinning the action with emotional depth.
It’s not as scary as you might like, but this is a rare example of a videogame adaptation that retains the essence of the original experience. Engaging and interactive, Exit 8 encourages us to play along as The Lost Man spots instructions on a wall telling him to find the anomalies on each circuit in order to progress. A smash hit in its native Japan, with its instantly iconic visuals and killer concept, Exit 8 recalls the heyday of J-horror (Ringu, Ju On: The Grudge and Dark Water). An American remake feels utterly inevitable.
Exit 8 is in cinemas from Friday 24 April.