FILM REVIEWS:
EXIT 8 (Japan 2025) ***
Directed by Genki Kawamura
Mazes and maze puzzles have always fascinated people. Trying to get out of a seemingly endless puzzle is the goal. In the new Japanese movie EXIT 8, Arashi superstar Kazunari “Nino” Ninomiya plays the Lost Man, a backpacked commuter trapped in an endless, sterile subway corridor. To escape at Exit 8 — where his ex awaits his thoughts about her pregnancy — he must obey one rule: if anything looks off, turn back. Miss a single anomaly, and he’s snapped to the start, condemned to loop again. The premise becomes a taut metaphor for guilt, responsibility, and the paralysis of indecision. There is nothing really much more in the story, but Nino makes turn after turn in one corridor after corridor for the full length of the movie. Definitely a movie that is NOT to be seen twice, credit should be given at least to the filmmaker to capture the attention of audiences for a full 90 plus minutes without incident and with much repetition. No one walked out during the screening - a rare achievement. The eerie and creepy film comes with a music soundtrack of Ravel's Bolero.
Trailer:
