Studio: DECAL - NEON
Release Date: 8/7/2026
Rating: PG-13
Film Grade: C+
The Story: A man exits a Japanese subway train on his way to work. Distracted by a surprising phone call from his ex, he absentmindedly wanders down an empty corridor. Following the exit sign leads to another long hallway that looks strangely similar to the last. And then there’s the Information sign on the wall:
- Do not overlook any anomalies.
- If you find an anomaly, turn back immediately.
- If you do not find any anomalies, do not turn back.
- Go out from Exit 8.
What kind of strange place has he wandered into?
My Take: While watching this movie, I started thinking that this feels like the premise for a video game, one emphasizing keen powers of observation. It was only upon watching the extras that I discovered that it is actually based on a fairly popular puzzle game that debuted in 2023 from the Japanese company Kotake Create. One of a number of games that challenges players to find oddities in common settings, translating it to film required some additions.
The nameless protagonist is given his own history to deepen the story while preserving the game’s primary elements. This is introduced early with the unexpected phone call, and weaving that element throughout the rest of the movie. The problem is that this aspect is fairly straightforward, and while somewhat emotionally interesting, it can’t match the fascination of the mysterious circumstances that he finds himself in.
That leaves the discovery part of the story to entertain the audience, an element that’s hit and miss. There are some really effective parts here, with touches like using an M. C. Escher poster on the mysterious corridor, echoing the twisting aspect of the story. Some anomalies are subtle, giving the viewer the chance to play along. Others are so obvious that they only serve as an opportunity to provide some creepy and startling scenes rather than offer a mental challenge. Still, this is a clever and interesting approach to telling a story that manages to surpass its video game origins.
The acting is surprisingly good, with Kazunari Ninomiya giving the central character the perfect mix of bewilderment, resolve, hope, and frustration as he tries to find the titular exit. His costars offer different perspectives on being placed in the same situation. It’s interesting to compare how differently they approach this mysterious place.
The movie gets bonus points for actually wrapping up a storyline in a definitive manner, even if the exact mechanism, cause, and reason behind the search for Exit 8 are left open to interpretation.
Visuals: Shot digitally, the director and cinematographer paired the cameras with older lenses. They discuss this in the extras, with the intention of softening the stark and sterile subway to lean into the human element of the story. Having watched the film and comparing it to the video game footage included in the making of featurette, this works well. The glistening white tile walls of the game have been tempered, giving it a more natural look but still preserving the uncanny feeling of things being off. This approach also allows for contrast when some of the weirder things happen.
It’s worth mentioning that the camera is almost constantly moving. The movie starts with a first-person perspective as the man rides on the train and makes his way through the subway station. This abruptly changes to a third-person perspective when he transitions to the hallway leading to Exit 8. This is something for viewers to be aware of if they’re sensitive to motion sickness. (It prevented my wife from watching the movie, even though I’m sure she would have enjoyed it.)
Audio: The disc comes with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix, which isn’t bad, but it sure would have benefitted from an Atmos soundtrack. It uses a variety of sound effects, often placing them around the listener. It’s used to great effect during a number of scenes, the best being at a point where the lights go out. Unfortunately, there’s a repeating element of the story where someone is walking past the protagonist, which is a miss. The footsteps approach as one would expect, but the sound level peaks before the character has passed – the sound is just a bit too early, marring the effect. Shifting to the rear seats of my theater improved things greatly, with the sound of the person’s footstep matching what’s shown on screen. My side surrounds are roughly in line with the first row, so if yours are in front of your seating, they’ll be timed perfectly.
The movie opens and closes with the classical piece, Bolero, emphasizing the repeating nature of the storyline. In between, the musical score is what you would expect for this kind of film, with heavy synth work complemented by some heavy bass tones from time to time. It creates the right kind of unease that enhances the off kilter setting of the movie. Dialog is in Japanese, so I can’t judge the intelligibility, but the tonality matched the subtitles perfectly.
Special Features: The making of featurette is divided into eight different themes (surprise!) and all are both interesting and informative. The filmmakers talk about the challenges of translating a video game into a movie and how they went about scripting, designing, and filming it. They also explore some of the underlying themes they wanted to develop and what influenced their decisions. There’s a cool scene where the designer of the game was invited to the set, offering him a chance to physically step into the world he created. Good stuff, and much deeper than some of the typical promotional fare we find on these discs. Recommended viewing for anyone that enjoyed the film.
- The Making of Exit 8: Featurette
- Q&A Session with director Genki Kawamura: On-disc interview session with the filmmaker
- Original Trailer: The theatrical trailer
Final Verdict: I went into this completely blind, thinking it was a Japanese horror movie. Well, it’s not really that, and perfectly acceptable for the horror-adverse. Think of it more as a Twilight Zone episode set in Japan; one that doesn’t rely on any deep cultural knowledge to fully engage with it. Violence and terror are practically nil. Instead, the movie offers a clever mix of a weird environment and puzzling situations that invite the viewer to play along as the story unfolds. That’s both its strength and weakness.
While well above average for a video game adaptation (yes, that’s typically a low bar), the additional human element that was added only offers minimal interest. While attentive audiences will find some rewards by paying careful attention, some of the anomalies are so obvious that one is left to wonder what the challenge would be if they were in the same situation. I waffled between a C+ and B- rating, but finally settled on the former, primarily due to that factor.
It gets bonus points for novelty, making it an easy recommendation for the curious, and you may find yourself going back to rewatch some sections to see if what you think you saw was what was actually shown.
Fun Fact: If you pay attention to the main character’s cell phone feed at the beginning of the film, you’ll see some familiar images later on.
This review was written by a human without the use of AI.My Review System:JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
Oppo BDP-93
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
Xbox One X
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup
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