Plot
A man living in Tokyo is on the subway one day, he gets a phone call from his ex girlfriend, who informs him she is pregnant. He plans to head to the hospital to be with her to ‘decide’ what to do when he discovers he is trapped in a loop in the subway corridors.
He must get to ‘Exit 8’ by playing a set of rules. If he sees an anomaly in the corridors, he must turn back and go the other way. If he fails to see the anomaly – he must start over. Will he get out, and what exactly are the anomaly’s he finds?
Direction
Directed by Japanese filmmaker Genki Kawamura. As it is based on a game, it has moments that have a “game like feel” to it, with moments in the beginning of the film having a complete point of view from the “lost man” – and many ‘one shots’ throughout as those trapped in the maze are trying to get out.
The setting, although “basic” is cleverly done as each ‘level’ changes, and the practicality of getting the NPC ‘walking man’ into position is brilliantly done as well. Bravo!!!
Cast
Starring Japanese cast including; Kazunari Ninomiya (of Arashi fame) as The Lost Man, Yamato Kochi as The Walking Man and Naru Asanuma as The Boy.
Breakdown
Based on the game of the same name, it has a very “game like” feel to the opening 5-10 minutes – where we are introduced to our nameless protagonist. We get a first person point of view angle from him, as he travels on a subway in his native Tokyo. He sees a man screaming at a woman who’se baby is crying, and does nothing – and moments later he gets a phone call from his ex girlfriend, who reveals she is pregnant. He makes plans to meet with her at the hospital, but then discovers that he is seemingly stuck in an infinate loop within the subway tunnels.
He reads signs on the walls that reveal he must “find the anomaly” within the corridor, and as he moves through them, another man walks past him (as you would see a non playing character do in these games). The behind the scenes story of how they pulled this off is pretty amazing.
For the majoirity of the film we follow “The Lost Man” as he travels through the maze, and trying to find his way to Exit 8 – which is his escape. Briefly the film cuts to “The Walking Man” and how he became stuck in the maze, his nightmarish time in the higher levels, and his travels with a young boy. This lad will go on to continue his journey with “The Lost Man” when the walking man escapes…
I liked this partnership, as it is heavily implied that the little boy, will become The Lost Man’s eventual son. I saw his ordeal as an ‘almost’ test to become a parent. The Walking Man did not put the boy first in his escape plan – but when The Lost Man is tested, he puts the boys safety above his own. Something almost every parent would do.
There are some great scare scenes within the film, and I jumped a few times. I also loved the score, it was especially tense when The Lost Man at one stage drops from level five to zero – and you can’t help but feel bad for him for his troubles.
I loved the ‘one’ takes – as for a great deal of the film are shot on a continuous take. Considering within these ‘oners’ there are changes to the tunnels and Kochi’s Walking Man has to get back into place to have his mundane walk (when he isn’t creeping up on The Lost Man with his creepy smile!).
I don’t think the asthma addition really did anything, and it is only added to have ‘one more’ thing that The Lost Man has to deal with.
I thought the film ended well too, and it has a different interpretation of the ending for everyone. For me, I saw it as the ordeal was all in his head, it never happened – but he does have the memory of it (that is why in the final seconds, he sees the same man screaming at the same lady from the first few seconds of the film, and instead of doing nothing – he is going to go do something… well written!)
Overall
Well written horror film from Japan, with some great jump scares. This makes the most out of an minimalistic setting, with some great direction (loved those one takes).
The heart between The Lost Man, and The Boy is terrific, and the ending is open to interpretation.
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4/5
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