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Exit 8, the viral indie time-loop horror game that kick-started the anomaly-hunting sub-genre, has been turned into a live-action film, which has received a creepy first trailer ahead of its Western release on 10 April 2026.
Directed by Genki Kawamura, who previously helmed the 2018 short film Duality and his debut feature A Hundred Flowers in 2022, the film adapts the main premise of the 2023 video game, which follows a man (played by Kazunari Ninomiya, a member of the Japanese idol group Arashi) stuck in an endlessly looping subway passage. To progress, he must follow the same set of rules seen in the game: Turn back if he discovers an anomaly, or carry on if there aren’t any.
“The rules of his quest are simple: do not overlook anything out of the ordinary. If you discover an anomaly, turn back immediately. If you don’t, carry on. Then leave from Exit 8. But even a single oversight will send him back to the beginning,” reads the trailer’s description. “Will he ever reach his goal and escape this infinite corridor?”
From the trailer, Exit 8 looks to be a pretty accurate depiction of the horrors seen in the game, with the same reflective white tiles covering the passage walls, the posters adorning it, and even the salaryman who walks past in every loop. Anomalies, on the other hand, looks to include both those seen in the games and something new, teasing familiar loops, such as one where the salaryman starts chasing the protagonist, or introducing ones like a swarm of mutated rat monsters appearing.
Additionally, the film will also expand upon the game’s narrative, as while the original Exit 8 was positioned as a simple walking simulator, with the underlying narrative and explanations for each anomaly left to player interpretation, the adaptation takes this one step further by fleshing out the protagonist, offering more direct links to the anomalies and how they stem from his personal traumas.
Developed by indie team KOTAKE CREATE, the Exit 8 video game was groundbreaking when it launched, with its simple yet engaging gameplay loop of observing anomalies and the anticipation of what creepy event lies ahead. The game inspired a host of similar titles, such as the I’m on Observation Duty franchise, and also spawned a sequel, Platform 8, in 2024, this time taking place on a train.
The Exit 8 live-action movie premiered at the Midnight Screenings of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 2025, followed by a release in Japan on 29 August 2025, but is now bound for theatres in North America on 10 April 2026.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
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