Exit 8 (2025)

Exit 8 was a mystery screening at my local cinema and I thought that based on the clue that it was going to be Passenger but Exit 8 was definitely on my watchlist so it was a win win as far as I was concerned. The premise is simple a man simply called The Lost Man tries to reach Exit 8 but if he ignore ‘anomalies’ then he goes back to Exit 0. Along the way he comes across a little boy (simply called The Boy), a man walking towards and past him called The Walking Man and they all have the same goal which is to reach Exit 8.

The Lost Man is the one that we are introduced to as he is on a train and observes a woman being shouted at because her baby is crying. He then gets a call from his ex-girlfriend who tells him that she is pregnant and wants to know what to do. The Lost Man is the smarter of the two men we meet. He is describing every little thing that he sees whereas The Walking Man doesn't seem observant, missing a key detail (a door handle in the middle of the door) and as a result misses the anomaly and seems to then be destined to stay in this situation.

Mystery films are a risk and this is the second mystery film of the year where someone has walked out. In fact three people walked out before the film was five minutes old. I’m guessing that they didn’t want to spend any time watching a film with subtitles. I can understand their reluctance but I think they are missing some absolute gems and this is definitely a film worth seeing. Considering that the film takes place in a bland white corridor it still manages to find interesting ways to keep the story going. 

I will be honest, as much as I enjoyed this film, I found the ending confusing. After reaching Exit 8 and seemingly about to make a decision with his ex-girlfriend, he decides to board the train from the beginning of the film and encounters the shouty man. Are we supposed to assume that he is going to try and put right the wrong of not standing up to the guy but the ending is too ambiguous to make sense.  

Despite the confusing ending, I really enjoyed this film. I would have seen it anyway even if it hadn’t been a mystery film but it was a nice surprise. It’s a singular setting which always works well for me and there is enough of a mystery to stay intriguing and the film progresses at a good speed and at 95 minutes the film doesn't outstay its welcome.