Even by the frequently esoteric standards of indie horror video games, Kotake Create’s The Exit 8 is kind of tricky to explain. The Japanese creator’s surprise 2023 smash hit is, when you boil things down, just a slightly creepy take on a Highlights magazine puzzle, asking players walking down a non-descript subway corridor to identify “anomalies” (which can range from repeating wall signs to far more obvious supernatural weirdness) and turn back if they see them. A few of these small differences can escalate to actual horror moments or possible jumpscares, but, for the most part, the game is weirdly meditative: Walk through an unsettling but familiar space, observe everything you can, and follow the very simple set of rules.
Genki Kawamura’s film adaptation of the game clearly felt it needed at least a bit more spark to go on, though—at least, if its “Bolero”-backed trailer is to be believed. The promo for the film lays out all of the basic rules from the original game—look out for anomalies, turn back if you spot one, proceed if not—but manages to make things quite a bit more harrowing for protagonist Kazunari Ninomiya. (A long-time member of the Japanese entertainment industry who American audiences might best know for a starring role opposite Ken Watanabe in Clint Eastwood’s Letters From Iwo Jima.) Rather than a simple game of spot-the-difference, “The Lost Man” gets confronted with psychological questions, some much nastier threats to his physical safety, and what appear to be hairless rats with giant eyeballs growing out of their backs. Which is presumably the sort of thing you have to deal with, once filmmakers decide to extend a game that usually takes people about 20 minutes to play through into a feature-length project.
Exit 8 was a modest hit when it was released in Japan last year, earning a decent box office run and accolades from critics. (In fact, it’s currently the highest-rated video game film adaptation of all time as Rotten Tomatoes reckons these things.) Neon is handling the film’s distribution in the United States; the movie is currently set for an April 10 release.
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