‘Exit 8’ Review Thread

I will continue to update this post as reviews come in.

Rotten Tomatoes: Certified Fresh

Critics Consensus: N/A

Metacritic: 62 (11 Reviews)

Sample Reviews:

Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter – A little more innovation could have gone a long way here, allowing us to escape the redundancy of the maze.

Jessica Kiang, Variety – While it doesn’t pretend to some grand philosophy, the movie’s sparseness does give it some mileage as an allegory for how changing things up is the only way to break a cycle of destructive, circular thinking.

Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting 3/5 – Exit 8 finds innovation in exploring the game’s structure, creating an immersive experience that has viewers scouring the screen for anomalies along with trapped characters. It’s also a bit too lean in plot.

Mark Hanson, Slant Magazine 2.5/4 – The film mines unnerving tension from the absurdity of its main character’s confinement.

Blake Simons, IndieWire B+ – Kawamura’s literary verve has elevated and transformed a dialogue-free indie game into a mystery box more reminiscent of complex ADV adventures such as “Zero Escape” and “Danganronpa,” and the cult film classic “Cube.”

Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com – It’s ultimately a clever and unshakeable nightmare about embracing the possibility of change, and the fear that comes with the unknown.

Jonathan Romney, Screen International – A rare game-based movie that actually has the feel of a game, with confoundingly tricky rules, Exit 8 should achieve solid cult status beyond Japan.

SYNOPSIS:

Based on the global hit eponymous video game created by KOTAKE CREATE. A man trapped in an endless sterile subway passageway sets out to find Exit 8. The rules of his quest are simple: do not overlook anything out of the ordinary. If you discover an anomaly, turn back immediately. If you don’t, carry on. Then leave from Exit 8. But even a single oversight will send him back to the beginning. Will he ever reach his goal and escape this infinite corridor?

CAST:

• Kazunari Ninomiya as The Lost Man
• Yamato Kochi as The Walking Man
• Kotone Hanase as The High School Girl
• Naru Asanuma as The Boy
• Nana Komatsu as The Woman

DIRECTED BY: Genki Kawamura

SCREENPLAY BY: Kentaro Hirase, Genki Kawamura

BASED ON THE EXIT 8 BY: Kotake Create

PRODUCED BY: Yuto Sakata, Kenji Yamada, Akito Yamamoto, Taichi Ito, Yoshihiro Furusawa, Minami Ichikawa, Genki Kawamura, Taichi Ueda

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Yuki Abe, Yuji Kiwaki, Wakana Okamura, Takashi Saito, Ichiro Shinohara, Yûsaku Tanaka, Hisashi Usui

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Keisuke Imamura

EDITED BY: Sakura Seya

COSTUME DESIGNER: Daisuke Iga

MUSIC BY: Yasutaka Nakata, Shohei Amimori

CASTING BY: Rie Tabata, Yoko Yamashita

RUNTIME: 95 Minutes

RELEASE DATE: April 10, 2026