The following article contains mild spoilers for Exit 8.
Exit 8 is one of the new movies now playing, and I called it "a near-perfect adaptation of the hit horror game" in my review. Much of that is down to the excellent filmmaking and how they made use of their one-location space.
In the movie, The Lost Man finds himself trapped in an endlessly looping subway tunnel. The only way out is for him to confront "anomalies" he finds there, ranging from a commuter acting strangely to things out of place.
One of the most impressive scenes sees the subway tunnel becoming flooded, as seen in one of the trailers, with The Lost Man ending up underwater. I was curious how that was filmed, given the constraints of the set.
The answer is very interesting and is a technique that director Genki Kawamura learned from Oscar-winning director Bong Joon Ho, known for works like Parasite and Mickey 17.
Kawamura told me, "So with the underwater scene, we had taken that set that we designed, and we actually submerged it into a pool and caused these tsunami waves to go through.
"And this is something that I got a hint from, from my friend Bong Joon Ho when he filmed Parasite. In that film, he also submerged that half-basement apartment in a pool."
The set design in Exit 8 is fascinating, and as audience members are also encouraged to spot anomalies along the way. Some of them are very weird or uncomfortable.
While the underwater scene was a personal highlight for me due to the eerie way it further trapped The Lost Man, I was curious about which anomaly was Kawamura's personal favorite.
He told me, "In the game, I really like this anomaly where the doorknob's in the middle of this steel door, and I like that anomaly in the movie a lot as well.
"I like it because it almost feels like the corridor is this giant monster or creature that has a will of its own, and the yellow exit 8 sign is this godlike being kind of watching humans as they enter its domain."
He concluded by saying, "And this idea of the doorknob just being in the middle of the door, I think, is almost like the corridor mocking or teasing humans as they walk in."
Exit 8 really does make the most of its one-location setup, and the result is absolutely terrifying. Don't miss this one while it's still in theaters.
