Exit 8 Turns a Creepy Game Corridor Into a Haunting Tale About Fatherhood
Exit 8 is a 2025 film adaptation of the 2023 walking-simulator game of the same name. Directed by Genki Kawamura and produced by Toho, the movie stars Kazunari Ninomiya as an unnamed man trapped in an infinite white corridor that defies logic.
Premise: what happens in the film
The film follows an unnamed Japanese man, played by Kazunari Ninomiya, who finds himself trapped inside an apparently endless corridor. The corridor contains doors, lockers and hanging banners, and events inside it break ordinary logic.
As the story progresses, the man searches for an exit labeled Exit 8 and encounters strange sounds and repeated situations while trying to leave.
The game: rules and structure
Exit 8 began as a 2023 walking-simulator game in which the player moves through an infinite corridor. In the game, players follow a clear rule: if they notice any abnormalities, they must head in the opposite direction. Progress requires choosing the correct direction eight times in a row.
Moreover, the game penalizes mistakes: if the player misses an abnormality and goes the wrong way, all progress is lost and must be restarted. The title focuses on exploration and atmosphere rather than combat or conventional horror mechanics.
Adaptation choices: who and how
Genki Kawamura directed the film version, which uses core elements from the game but expands on the protagonist’s background. Kazunari Ninomiya plays the unnamed man, who is shown to have a part-time job and a relationship with a woman who is in the hospital and pregnant.
Also, the film opens with Maurice Ravel’s Boléro, a 15-minute orchestral piece that repeats a melody with changing instrumentation. This musical choice appears at the start of the movie.
Themes shown in the movie
The movie presents the corridor as more than a setting: it connects three male figures — the protagonist, an older office worker, and a young boy — and places them in repeated sequences that emphasize decision-making and responsibility.
Specifically, the older office worker is shown balancing self-preservation with the question of whether to help the boy escape. The film explicitly frames the corridor scenes as a loop the protagonist must confront while grappling with whether he can be a father.
Release and credits
Exit 8 premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was directed by Genki Kawamura and produced by Toho; it stars Kazunari Ninomiya.
As of the premiere, the movie does not have a U.S. release date.
