Exit 8: The Endless Loop in the Modern Society

Exit 8 is adapted from the popular game with the same name (The Exit 8), starring beloved actors Kazunari Ninomiya and Nana Komatsu. The setting is rather simplistic: the supposed passage to the subway exit turns out to be an endless loop, like the shape of 8. One has to follow the rules, which are written on a regular sign on the wall, in order to go out: If ‘an anomaly’ is spotted, turn back; if not, keep walking in the same direction. When the protagonist picks the right choice, the number of the exit’s name by the side of the game rule sign will increase (from Exit 0 to Exit 1, etc.). Otherwise, the number will return to 0. 

On the way to his supplementary job, the protagonist found himself in this endless loop. Inside the passage, a normal-looking man dressed in office attire walked silently in the opposite direction, which the protagonist figured out was part of the loop. The ‘anomaly’ the protagonist is supposed to look for is deliberately subtle and eerie. There wasn’t a dangerous monster threatening his life in this film, yet the little out-of-place details falling into the uncanny valley create an undoubtedly horrifying atmosphere: unironically, “the devil is in the detail.” Ravel’s Boléro, which has an ascending recurring melody, appears several times, and it resonates with the theme.

This kind of game, video, and film belongs to the ‘backroom’ or ‘liminal space’ genre, which has become a hot topic in the 2020s. They sometimes are at the edge between nostalgia and horror, and this film is definitely in the realm of horror. French anthropologist Marc Auge coined the term ‘non-space’ to describe the typical modern environment that doesn’t create meaning for the identities of the people who are in it, and they only stay mobile, anonymous, and merely passengers. The shopping mall and the transaction spot in modern transportation, like the subway passage in this film, are the typical symbols of modernity. The rules of the game made the protagonist pay extreme attention to an environment that exclusively serves as a background in daily life, contradicting our usual carelessness towards the non-space.

Outside the tunnel, the main character was also in the dilemma of if he would or should be a father. His fear comes from questioning his own character and the nonchalant attitude of the whole social environment, as he witnessed an argument with a mother with a baby inside the carriage. Some of the anomalies he encountered let out the sound of wailing babies, and he eventually escaped with the assistance and company of a toddler, who was also lost. This film gives hints to the lifestyle of salarymen in Japan, from the main protagonist (the lost man) to the story of the walking man. Not only in this haunted passage, but everyday life is also a vicious circle. To a point, the walking man who once was also the lost man was questioned by the ghost-like girl, who most likely was once lost herself, ‘Do you really want to get out?’ These background stories contextualize the original simple gameplay, and this match is not a coincidence. This current obsession with liminal space doesn’t come from nowhere but is a byproduct of our modern lifestyles and space.

As an audience, some may find the difficulty of getting out of this space is way lower than the setting in other horror movies, such as the Saw franchise. However, the real horror goes beyond this single way but the mundanity of a normal office worker. It’s not pleasant when we pause and scrutinise what we take for granted in daily life. Can the things we see every day really be considered as ‘normal’? Can we escape this hollow loop? The ending of this film shines a subtle positive light with possible future changes, which are in the protagonist’s own hand and mind: In the same depressing environment, he still came back to the subway and encountered the same scenario, but he might be ready to let his voice out. This simple message is not as strong as the horror presented in this eerie space. We might need a more intricate plan to reach the real exit of the liminal space in modern society.