Exit 8 opens to the strains of Bolero blaring out, so that’s a good start, and with some remembering that used by Torvill and Dean for their ice skating win, in 1981.
Less so for the occupants of a tram in South Korea, where a baby is screaming its head off, no matter what its mother tries to do to calm it down.
Thankfully, the protagonist, named The Lost Man (Kazunari Ninomiya), is getting off and just needs to head to the hospital, where his ex-girlfriend is about to give birth. However, he’s heading for exit 8, but just can’t get there, since the stark, labyrinthine corridors go on forever and suddenly, he finds the sign for Exit 0, but will No.1 ever come?
More confusion comes when he eventually arrives at a sign “Exit 5”, but then the next one goes back to zero… and then he sees a sign with instructions, stating “Don’t ignore any anomolies”, before encountering the sound of a screaming baby trapped in a station locker, blood pouring down from a ceiling sign…
Elsewhere, there’s The Walking Man (Yamato Kôchi) constantly passing him in the opposite direction – sometimes getting TOO close, a schoolgirl (Kotone Hanase – Suzume) and a young boy (Naru Asanuma). Are they in on whatever’s going on? Is it live or is it Memorex?
Exit 8 is pretty good, but it does go on until it reaches a conclusion, even for a 95-minute film, and feels a bit Tales of the Unexpected meets Inside No… 8?
And I did start wondering if this film would be well-served as a videogame, and then saw there IS one! So, I’ll have to try that. This is certainly a far better film than Markiplier’s tedious Iron Lung.
NOTE: There are no mid- not post-credits scenes.
Exit 8 is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray, ahead of its release on June 29th.
You can also buy the book on which the film is based.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 95 minutes
Release date: April 24th 2026
Studio: NEON
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 6/10
Director: Genki Kawamura
Producers: Yoshihiro Furusawa, Minami Ichikawa, Taichi Itô, Genki Kawamura, Yuto Sakata, Taichi Ueda, Kenji Yamada, Akito Yamamoto
Screenplay: Hirase Kentaro, Genki Kawamura
Videogame: Kotake Create
Music: Shouhei Amimori, Yasutaka Nakata
Cast:
The Lost Man: Kazunari Ninomiya
The Walking Man: Yamato Kôchi
The Boy: Naru Asanuma
High school student: Kotone Hanase
Screaming Man on Train: Hirota Ôtsuka
Mother on Train: Tara Nakashima
Child: Reo Soda
Lost man’s partner: Nana Komatsu
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.