Directed by Genki Kawamura, Exit 8 tells the story of a lost man who becomes trapped in an endless, sterile subway passage as he attempts to find the mysteriously impossible exit. Imprisoned by an endless hallway loop, he soon discovers that there are ‘rules’ to his journey: he cannot overlook anything out of the ordinary. Any time that he discovers an ‘anomaly’, he must immediately turn back. However, with each wrong decision, he finds himself place back at the very beginning to start again. As the stakes rise and the players change, the man is relentless in his quest but still feels hopeless.
In Exit 8, Kawamura has created a film that feels entirely unique. Set within the confines of three hallways in the bottom of the subway, the film is surprisingly effective in its simplicity. Operating as a psychological puzzle box, the film manages to keep itself compelling, despite its repetitive nature. Based on the Japanese video game of the same name, the film takes on the structure of a or escape room. Each new ‘level’ brings with itself new challenges and, as a result, new possibilities for failure.
Admittedly, the film does take some increasingly bigger swings with its storytelling as it moves on that risk the effectiveness of the storytelling. While it begins with ‘subtle’ moments that can be tricky to catch, Exit 8 does allow itself to become increasingly wilder. However, when one considers the shifts in perspectives along the way, even these larger moments feel justified in the end.
But that’s also part of the fun of Exit 8. As the challenges get wilder, the emotional investment in these characters shifts from mere escape to becoming something better than they were at the beginning. Every step in the right direction feels like… well… a step in the right direction of their own personal evolution, offering character growth in an almost bizarre manner. Every level up feels like a victory towards emotional maturity and Kawamura ensures that no character is the same when they finally reach the proverbial Exit.
Exit 8 is playing at TIFF ’25. For more information, click here.
