Exit 8 (2026)
Directed by: Genki Kawamura
Premise: Based on the video game. A man (Kazunari Ninomiya) exits a Japanese subway car and finds himself trapped in an endless loop, walking the same section of hallway. To escape, he must pass through the correct version of the hallway eight times in consecutive order.
What Works: 2026 has seen the release of several films about characters in liminal spaces, a limbo between states or realms in which ordinary rules of physical life may not apply. We’ve also seen this idea in Backrooms, It Ends, and Buddy. Exit 8 keeps the setup brief. In a prologue, the lead character—credited as the Lost Man—witnesses a subway passenger berate a mother and her screaming infant. Meanwhile, the Lost Man gets a call from his girlfriend who reveals she is pregnant. Within minutes, the Lost Man finds himself trapped in a looping hallway. The conceit of Exit 8 can be read as a metaphor of the way many people experience life; the Lost Man is stuck in a seemingly endless cycle. While trapped he encounters a fellow adult (Yamato Kochi) who has become stuck in the loop and a boy (Naru Asanuma) that the Lost Man takes it upon himself to save. While the parallels to his own life are fairly obvious, the Lost Man is given a character arc. He must rise to the occasion if he is to break out of the cycle. Exit 8 is extremely well made. The illusion of a spatial loop is seamless. Most of the movie takes place in the same hallway but the filmmakers keep it visually interesting with unusual angles and slight changes to the lighting. Sound is also used effectively, creating a cavernous sense of depth.
What Doesn’t: Like a lot of these kinds of liminal space movies, Exit 8 is not a horror movie in the conventional sense, even less so than Backrooms or It Ends. There’s no monster or villain. It’s not really a scary film. This an existential kind of horror and what viewers get out of Exit 8 is going to depend on their willingness to engage with its strange premise. Although the story depends on the Lost Man noticing details and making strategic choices, Exit 8 isn’t much of a puzzle. It’s not made in a way that focuses on the details of the hallway. Exit 8 focuses on the Lost Man’s psychology and how he rises to the occasion. That makes for a satisfying story but the filmmakers do not take advantage of the game element inherent to its conceit.
Disc extras: Interviews, featurette, and a trailer.
Bottom Line: Exit 8 is an exceptional liminal space horror film. It minimizes the puzzle aspect of the premise but the film uses this concept to explore the emotional and psychological aspects of the human experience.
Episode: #1119 (October 4, 2026)