For fans of Stanley Kubrick's iconic horror masterpiece The Shining, a new cinematic nightmare has arrived that explores similarly profound and terrifying themes. Director Genki Kawamura's psychological horror film Exit 8, adapted from a viral video game, is generating buzz as a brilliant and unsettling examination of fatherhood, trauma, and the male ego—themes that will feel hauntingly familiar to devotees of the Overlook Hotel.
The film premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it received an eight-minute standing ovation and won an award for best poster design. It follows a character known only as The Lost Man, played by Kazunari Ninomiya, as he finds himself trapped in an endless, looping subway tunnel. His escape depends on a simple yet maddening rule: he must move forward if his surroundings appear normal, but turn back if he spots any anomaly. This premise creates a relentless atmosphere of paranoia and uncertainty, pulling viewers directly into the protagonist's disorienting perspective.
A Hallway of Horrors and Self-Reflection
Kawamura has openly cited The Shining as a key inspiration, even naming two of the film's hallway sets after Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock. Like Kubrick's film, Exit 8 uses a confined, oppressive space—here, a sterile subway corridor—as more than just a setting. It becomes a character, a monster, and a psychological testing ground. The repetitive journey forces The Lost Man to confront his deepest fears, primarily triggered by a phone call from a former partner revealing her pregnancy.
This news sends him spiraling, and the endless hallway becomes a physical manifestation of his anxiety about impending fatherhood. The film brilliantly dissects the paralyzing fear and uncertainty that can accompany the prospect of parenthood, drawing a direct parallel to Jack Torrance's descent in The Shining. Where Jack's artistic ego and neglect of his family made him vulnerable to the hotel's evil, The Lost Man must battle his own insecurities and failures to find a way out.
Echoes of Kubrick's Classic Themes
The connections run deep. Both films feature male protagonists whose egos and personal demons are magnified by their environments until they threaten everything around them. In The Shining, Jack's obsession with his writing and his dismissal of his family's well-being lead to catastrophe. In Exit 8, the protagonist's initial reaction to potential fatherhood is one of debilitating fear, a refusal to engage with the responsibility. The narrative forces him, through relentless repetition and observation, to peel back layers of past trauma to heal his present.
Furthermore, both stories highlight the clarity of children amidst adult chaos. Danny Torrance's "shining" ability allows him to see the hotel's horrors that his father ignores. Similarly, in Exit 8, a character known as The Boy perceives the subtle anomalies in the hallway that adults overlook. This theme suggests a potent critique of how adult preoccupations—with career, status, or personal noise—can blind us to essential truths and the needs of those around us.
Kawamura's film is part of a rich tradition of psychological horror that uses its scares to ask difficult questions. If you're looking for a film that delivers both visceral terror and intellectual heft, similar to modern classics like Prime Video's 'Dead Ringers' or the unsettling small-town mysteries of 'From', then Exit 8 should be at the top of your list.
Why This Film Demands Your Attention
Beyond its clever premise and thematic depth, Exit 8 is a masterclass in sustained tension. The camerawork initially adopts a first-person viewpoint, making you feel like a player in the very game it's based on. The repetition of the hallway is not monotonous but increasingly claustrophobic, each loop revealing new details about the character's psyche and the rules of his prison. The number eight itself symbolizes the inescapable cycles—emotional, mental, and physical—that the film explores.
In its final act, the film builds toward a powerful conclusion about facing one's fears and the noise of the world. The Lost Man's journey culminates not in a simple escape, but in a confrontation with his own passivity and the verbal abuses of everyday life, suggesting a path toward empathy and responsibility. It's a challenging, thought-provoking watch that lingers long after the credits roll, securing its place as a standout in contemporary horror and a perfect, chilling companion piece to the works that inspired it.
