The Best Debut Horror Game Of 2023 Is Getting a Movie Next Year

Although The Exit 8 is ostensibly a “walking simulator” and therefore inherently less cinematic than a movie-like game such as The Last of Us, its translation to film makes a good deal of sense. The video game is highly surreal and interpretable, putting players in the shoes of an unnamed man attempting to leave a subway station in Tokyo. This basic premise manifests as a P.T.-inspired sequence of looping hallways, with each loop featuring a unique “anomaly,” or alteration to the original version of the hall. Some of these can be small, like a poster featuring a new and unusual illustration, while others are extreme and unmistakable, such as new NPCs and immediate threats like floods. There’s some vague lore behind The Exit 8‘s spooky veneer, but again, it’s up for interpretation.

Everything We Know About The Exit 8’s Movie Adaptation

Key Players in the Exit 8 Film

• Director: Genki Kawamura
• Screenplay: Kentaro Hirase & Genki Kawamura
• Starring: Kazunari Ninomiya & Nana Komatsu
• North American Distribution by Neon

Director, writer, and producer Genki Kawamura is perhaps best known for his literature, as he garnered international acclaim with the best-selling 2012 novel If Cats Disappeared from the World. Exit 8 is his third directorial project. Co-writer Kentaro Hirase had previously collaborated with Kawamura on Duality, a 2018 drama that the pair directed together.

The film’s leads are Kazunari Ninomiya, who plays Exit 8‘s protagonist, and Nana Komatsu, who plays a mysterious woman not featured in the original game. Naturally, filmmaking convention demands that Exit 8‘s main character be a bit more fleshed out than a silent, blank-slate vessel for the audience. Ninomiya and Komatsu are central to this reinterpretation of the source material, helping to guide the plot, flesh out the backstory, and create stronger emotional stakes. Yamato Kochi, whose acting credits only begin in 2023, plays the enigmatic “Walking Man” players encounter in-game.

Though it was initially distributed by Japanese giant Toho, its North American release will be handled by Neon, a distributor best known for hit movies like Parasite, Longlegs, and Triangle of Sadness. Neon’s strong track record, particularly with international films, may inspire extra hope for Exit 8‘s quality.

Is the Exit 8 Movie Any Good?

How North American audiences respond to Exit 8 remains to be seen, but the film’s global release is off to a good start. It’s been well-received by video game adaptation standards, currently sitting at a Critic Rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was #2 at the Japanese box office during its debut weekend, only beaten by the latest Demon Slayer movie. It also performed well in South Korea, Russia, and France. Accolades are sparse as the film continues its theatrical release, but it was nominated for Best Feature Film at the Sitges Film Festival in Spain and won the award for Best Music at that same event.

When Is Exit 8 Releasing in North America?

• Exit 8 North American release window: early 2026

Neon has yet to lock in a firm release date for Exit 8, but the company is targeting early 2026. This NA release will bring the Japanese film to theaters across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, although the exact scope of this distribution (e.g., number of theaters) hasn’t yet been confirmed.

An early-year release for Exit 8 isn’t exactly ideal, as there tend to be more moviegoers around the end of the year or during the summer. Some even refer to early months as “dump months,” as this is typically when distributors will launch projects with less earning potential. This makes it a common and even beneficial window for more out-there horror movies like Exit 8 because many iconic films and cult classics have been released during this time, including The Silence of the Lambs, Cloverfield, and Scanners.

What to Expect from Exit 8’s US Release

It will certainly be interesting to see how Exit 8 performs with US audiences compared to those in Japan, France, and elsewhere. Horror tropes and conventions are quite different around the globe, so Exit 8‘s perception may be markedly different in the States. On a more optimistic note, Exit 8‘s American release will make it eligible for consideration at both the Oscars and Golden Globes. If Neon bets big on Exit 8, as it has with its previous international movies, it has the potential to garner quite a bit of prestige when it lands in the Western Hemisphere.

Systems

Released

November 29, 2023

ESRB

t

Engine

Unreal Engine 5, Unreal Engine 4