Genki Kawamura's Exit 8 is a mind-fuck of a movie. This isn't necessarily a good thing. A ninety-plus minute surrealist ride into an underground subway's intricate hallways, in which its protagonist, played by Kazunari Ninomiya, struggles to locate the titular exit is intriguing for ten, maybe 15 minutes. After that, its repetitive nature, where he circles back around so many times that the only sensible option is to check one's watch, ad nauseam.
Add to the mix the walking man (Yamato Kochi), a lost child (Naru Asanuma) and a woman whose infant's cries cause an impatient man to scream at her, and the result is a weak examination of a coward who learns that he should stand up to injustice, even when it's not directed at him personally.
Allegedly based on a video game, Exit 8 is bound to give foreign films (most notably the Asian ones) a bad name on the international stage. Those who had to pay to watch this theatrically surely must've demanded their money back. Either that, or they were as brain-dead as the filmmakers who thought this is a compelling cinematic narrative.
☆
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