It’s fitting that the hero of Exit 8, Toho’s mind-bending adaptation of the Japanese video game of the same name, is known only as The Lost Man (Ninomiya Kazunari). He seems lost long before getting swept into the maze of this film, and director Genki Kawamura wastes little time projecting his aimlessness onto the viewer. We first meet the Lost Man standing in a crowded subway car, with first-person cinematography planting us firmly in his shoes. Noise-canceling headphones dull his senses, but it’s not enough to diminish the sound of a crying baby... or the disgruntled man scolding the young mother trying to quiet her child. It’s a tough moment to watch, especially as seconds drag by without anyone else in this crammed car standing up for the woman and her baby.
We can count the Lost Man among those detached passengers: he’s avoidant to a fault, perpetually moving forward yet emotionally stagnant otherwise. He’s even ignoring calls from his ex-girlfriend (Nana Komatsu) on his commute to work, though when he finally picks up, it’s easy to see why. As the Lost Man disembarks and heads for the subway exit, she tells him she’s pregnant. She too is stuck, in a way, sitting at the hospital and unsure about keeping her baby. This announcement shakes our unlikely hero to his core: when asked what she should do, or whether he’ll be involved, his answer is awkward silence. The timing of this couldn’t be more inconvenient — but also that’s why it’s perfect. Finally, something he can’t walk away from. Finally, an issue he has to face head-on. And if that metaphor isn’t clear enough, the Lost Man soon finds himself literally lost, trapped in a perpetually repeating subway tunnel with only one way out.
