レビュー：「出口8」はホラー映画ではないと思う（二宮和也、高知大和、小松菜奈）
Hello people of the internet. It’s Amanda and if you’re new here on my channel, I usually talk about Japanese movies, dramas, entertainment. Sometimes I tap into other Asian pop culture topics as well. And as a break from my recent number videos, I’m here to talk about a film that I’ve been anticipating for so long. It’s finally showing here in Philippine cinemas and it’s been shown in like different festivals, different countries as well. I’m talking about Exit 8. Now, this stars Nomia Kazanari or Nino from Arashi. And I’ve been looking forward to this film for several reasons. Number one, it’s based off of a 2023 released video game by Kotaka Creates and it’s a walking simulator puzzle game that has psychological thriller elements to it and that follows what the genre of the film is. Um, but what interested me is when I talked to my brother and he played this game before, he mentioned how straightforward the game play is. And it’s pretty much a very simple concept, but the reason why it’s been raved about and why it’s been it’s being adapted into a film or at least why it’s been picked up to be like that is because of the reception. And it’s pretty much kind of like how it is with, you know, how games they can be very complicated, lots of elements. But for this one, you it’s so easy to kind of like speedrun it in a sense that they really didn’t kind of like make it as convoluted as it is. That really intrigued me as to how they’re going to convert that into a movie and how it’s going to make like how the movie is going to make you feel like you care for these characters and what’s the narrative going to be about without it necessarily kind of like taking away from the main eerie element that made the video game interesting in the first place. And so that’s where the interest in the entire film kind of like started for me. saw the trailer. I saw that it was being received really well, but I tried as much as possible to steer clear from any reviews or spoilers or whatever just so like my interpretation of the film as well as the viewing experience wouldn’t be affected by um you know as I’m making this video and as I viewed it. Um, so yeah. So if I miss out on any other like facts or whatever, then please forgive me because again this is based off of just the pure viewing experience of it and what I know of, you know, any other elements of the film. Before we jump right into it, I just want to mention that um, Kamura Genki is director of this film. Um, and I’ve enjoyed, you know, some of the works that he’s been involved in like there’s Kurida’s Monster. Um, also in other kind of like internationally recognized um, titles like a lot of Makoto Shina Kai’s worksaw. So I definitely had certain like expectations in terms of the storytelling of it is with Nino as the main lead for this. I also like know that he’s just going to deliver actingwise. Um, but again, I didn’t really kind of dive dive um I didn’t really do deep into anything about this film other than, you know, when I was sitting down actually watching it. So, with that said, so let’s just get to it. Basically, the movie starts off in a very video gameish kind of like POV of like a first-p person perspective coming from the main character’s um just POV. he was riding this very very packed train. Um, and he kind of like notices like he was wearing his headphones, earphones, and then he notices that um there was this woman being being shouted at by this guy because the woman’s baby was crying and the guy was like kind of like screaming and telling her off and saying like all these other things like how she’s bothering people. And the main character, he kind of like just goes back to his own corner in the train, not really doing anything and no one really does anything. And then from there, like when he steps out, he receives a call from his ex-girlfriend saying that she’s expecting and she was asking him like what should like I do or what should we do like how it is and he’s so unsure about entire situation like he didn’t know how to respond to her. He even dropped his phone and it kind of like cracked a little and all that. And and in the middle of all the confusion of him like leaving the station, he ends up in this like cyclic loop of again just seeing exit 8 and it’s kind of like this pretty straightforward kind of like corridor that kind of like um um turns one way and then when you when you go into that particular turn, it returns to where you came back. And it’s pretty much like like that. Um and like with that um he started like getting confused at first and that’s pretty much where the gameplay element of the story comes in. You know, we we get pulled back from the first person perspective and we see him in third person and we get introduced to the lost man played by Nino and that is pretty much kind of like the main character um in the story. Now, in that corridor, there are, you know, typical elements with um kind of like just a pretty straightforward, you know, if you’ve been in Japanese tra um train stations before, you would be familiar in terms of how it looks like. Sometimes it’s very busy. Sometimes there are like eerie corridors that just look pretty much the same. Um, and like the eight in itself, I guess, is like parallel to kind of like an infinite loop in terms of the cycle where the quote unquote players are within this small maze. And the concept was, you know, the lost man figuring out that there’s an instruction at the beginning of it saying, um, like if you notice any anomalies, then turn back. Um, and if not, like you can proceed to exit 8. And if you succeed in kind of like pinpointing that there are no anomalies in that particular like run that like corridor that you’ve been to very similarly. Um and like it go it kind of like levels you up until you actually like hit eight levels and then you’ll be able to exit the loop cycle that you’ve been in. Pretty straightforward. Um, but there are certain things about it and sometimes like with the anomalies at first it’s so hard to pinpoint because you kind of like enter this same environment of just being you know having like seven different posters and then another one that is kind of like a signage for um the CCTV cameras, three doors um certain number of vents and all that. And it’s pretty much kind of like the same thing. And you would think that it’s so easy to notice like changes within the the corridor like especially if you’ve been in there like you’ve passed through it several times but the the movie shows or at least the like the story shows that that’s not the same and there’s always this kind of like one non-playing character NPC kind of like um walking which is called the walking man and he’s also part of like this entire environment that you’re kind of like playing in or the lost man is experiencing throughout this loop. Now, if you haven’t seen it yet, I wouldn’t spoil like major plot points of the film, but let’s just say that the horror elements of it combines like both very very obvious anomalies and also non-obvious anomalies in the story. Now, um, overall, like we kind of like see for some reason like the lost man. He starts off as someone who kind of like looks like he’s very again lost not just in a physical sense, but also in a mental and emotional sense as a person. like he just didn’t know what to do, especially with the news, hearing from his ex-girlfriend, and just overall like as a person, he’s just very much kind of like lost in life. Like even if we don’t know much about who he is outside of the narrative, it’s something that is very evident in the way that the character is presented to us. and the idea of him being the lost man is both a literal a literal and a metaphorical identification of the character. Now, um but throughout the story, we notice that he the more that he gets into this cycle, the more that he refinds, you know, that certain purpose again, um of wanting to survive, wanting to get out of it, wanting to rediscover, you know, life outside of this cyclic um like again the cycle that he’s in. And again it’s it’s a metaphor as to how most of us live our daily lives. I would say this very routinary level of how sometimes we get so indifferent in other things things that we encounter every day because we’re so caught up in our own kind of like problems to bother with anything else. And that is kind of like the main like narrative or the main message of the story that they weren’t really subtle in terms of making like showing it. Now, I’m not going to like spoil any major plot points. I would just say that when you think that you’ve you’ve been experiencing the same fatigue in terms of like, okay, so is this how this story is going to be the entire time, entire runtime? it kind of like switches up just to change the rhythm a little bit without really throwing you off too much from like the immersive experience. Now, in terms of the conclusion of the movie, I would say it’s pretty interesting to me to the point that it’s gotten a bit stressful watching it. And I what I like about this film is overall along with The Lost Man, you’re also kind of like watching out for anomalies because aside from the obvious ones or the heavy-handed ones in the story, some of these anomalies are also very very subtle and it’s part of like the gameplay experience of watching the film. You’re also looking out for certain things in the same corridor, heightening up your observation skills, which is again a metaphor for how we’ve gotten so lost into our everyday lives that we kind of like forgo, you know, um looking at things differently. There is an element in the film where there is a child character there that is introduced and it kind of like shows how children who has yet to experience a lot when it comes to life has more observation skills than adults sometimes because they tend to pay attention to smaller things and they tend to be a bit more curious about certain things other than just you know how we usually see it or how we get so used to the routine of things that we ignore or our minds kind of like block out anything else that is different from it. Now, again, going back to the conclusion of the film, I find it really interesting in a sense that I felt like I felt a certain I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I felt a certain stress in terms of like seeing the lost man in kind of like a very familiar setting yet again. And you kind of like figure out, okay, so that’s what this is about. and and you kind of like question, so would everything that he’s learned in the game going to be in vain or in the game or at least the loop cycle going to be in vain or is he going to decide differently this time around? And like they stretch it out really really good to the point that it it kind of like creeps up to the viewer uh before they actually cut to the end of the movie. And I think that’s such a brilliant move in terms of the camera work, how claustrophobic that final scene felt, while also like just the acting that Nino delivered in that. There’s there’s so much there’s so much nuance in terms of how that is and and also just generally like how that reflects throughout the limbo part of the story. I don’t know, like that final part to me was just crazy. And now talking about the genre of the movie itself, if you’re expecting like a horror film, like for example, if you just jump right into it not really being a fan of the game or like anything else or not really in it for like the actors who were in the film um and all that, this might come off as you consider this a horror film, something like that. It it’s really more of like a psychological thriller than a horror film. And to some people, they might not even feel or see it as thrilling at all. Um, but to me, I guess the eeriness of it or kind of like the metaphor as to what the limbo stands for and even just the story or the character of the lost man himself is the eerie aspect of it. It is a horror story in a sense that it is such a good parallel as to what real life is. And I know that that’s not something that other pe like some people might be looking for. Like if you’re looking for horror, you might be expecting a lot of like gory elements to it or a lot of jump scares and all that. But to me, I guess the appeal of this is it’s like the is the kind of like realization as to what what how this film defines horror for the viewer and not just the characters. Um, and to some extent, I guess I’m pretty much used to it because how it is with most Japanese films, how they kind of like inject some heartwarming elements to it. And to me, it is really more of like a heartwarming narrative and kind of like an introspective movie rather than being a psychological thriller/horror film. Um but to some extent like if you if you feel through the characters or if you kind of like grasp what the movie is trying to say then you are going to realize that it is indeed like a horror story. Um, and yeah, and again, as I said, you know, if you’re looking for like a horror film that is pure on like gore and kind of like just um a lot of like jump scarments and all of that, you might feel differently about this film. But to me, again, it is effective in a sense that it it kind of like immerses you in the world that it delivers. It delivers this kind of like um twist to to an interesting parallel all kind of like a message that it’s trying to say and it’s kind of like the most straightforward way to deliver that kind of message of how you know like how we’re so caught up in and it’s not even our fault that this happens. This just kind of like is part of our daily lives. But sometimes, you know, embracing these different kind of like anomalies, these little differences, the these little things that kind of like allow us to stop and look and really pay attention, we might just want to embrace it, you know, no matter how scary they might be. Um, at least that’s my kind of like takeaway from the film. So, yeah. So and again I just want to say and this is kind of like a non part of like the entire film in itself. Um Kamatuana she has like a very I wouldn’t say it’s a massive role for this but like a big role in this um or kind of like but she is kind of like one of the central characters in the film as well and I just absolutely love seeing her because of her beautiful face. Um, also with Yamatoi playing the walking man, he delivered such a nuanced um such a nuanced um performance in this film as well. Um, and again, I wouldn’t want to spoil anything, but um it’s just pretty interesting, you know, the way that he is in in that particular film. And just overall, I just really really kind of like just enjoyed it. as someone who enjoys these type of uh these types of films where where it is horrific but not in a sense that is too on the nose when it comes to horror films. So yeah, so have you seen this film? Tell me down in the comments below what are your thoughts about this. Um, and any like other realizations, any fun facts that I probably missed because again, I I am going to look up stuff about this film after I film this because again, I don’t want to influence my thoughts or feelings about this film by reading other things aside from the fast facts about this. But anyways, if you like this um video, please give it a thumbs up. If you’re new to my channel and you would want to hear more from me, please hit subscribe. Thank you so much for watching and I’ll be seeing you again soon in a new video. Bye.
#Exit8 #NinomiyaKazunari #YamatoKochi #KomatsuNana
REVIEW: ‘Exit 8’ starring Ninomiya Kazunari, Yamato Kochi, Komatsu Nana
‘Exit 8’ is based on a 2023 video game of the same name, made by Kotake Create. Described as a ‘walking simulator’, ‘Exit 8’ is pretty much straightforward in its gameplay, with players navigating a familiar train station corridor over and over again, up until they figure out how to escape.
The story follows The Lost Man (Ninomiya Kazunari), who carries the name both literally and metaphorically. He gets trapped in the Exit 8 limbo after learning that his ex-girlfriend was expecting, mirroring his own ‘lost’ feelings on how to deal with the news. Following the simple instructions provided within the limbo, he navigates the so-called ‘anomalies’ in an attempt to return to the real world.
The film, directed and written by Kawamura Genki (known for other internationally recognized films like Koreeda’s ‘Monster’ and Shinkai’s ‘Kimi No No Wa’), follows the same claustrophobic and eerie storytelling of the game, all while delivering what, in my opinion, is an introspective message that anyone can easily relate to: that we get so lost in everyday life, we end up living in a limbo that often leaves us tired, confused, and maybe even apathetic.
While people expecting gore and jumpscares may find this movie unexciting or even frustrating, given the lack of both despite its ‘horror’ category, I find it amusing that it stays true to its promise by outlining the true horror that extends beyond the end credits: that being stuck in a limbo of passivity is the true horror story of living.
Still, in a somehow hopeful fashion, the movie also offers a heartwarming answer: it’s not until we stop and truly try to pay attention to the things we often overlook that we’ll eventually find our escape.
‘Exit 8’ is now showing in Philippine cinemas.
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