Rating: 8/8
One line review: world’s thirstiest man journey’s through the worst underground subway. featuring emotional turmoil and asthma.
THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!
if you played the game, YES YOU SHOULD WATCH THE MOVIE!
about as satisfying as a video game movie can get. the narrative is woven into the gameplay elements so seamlessly, i'd believe that this was the intended reading of the game. i don't know if that's true but i would believe it if i saw a random instagram post claiming it.
i want to talk about the three main parts of the movie's presentation that contributed to that enjoyment. there will be HEAVY spoilers from this point on, and HEAVY opinions. be warned.
opening scene and gameplay visuals
honestly my favorite part of the movie. holy shit i loved this. i was shaking in my seat because it looked JUST LIKE THE GAME AHHH
LIKE LOOK AT THIS!!! actually these two aren't perfect copies w the video game graphics but the vibe is the same
and it starts in first person?! i wasn't sure how the movie would be presented at first. i was a bit worried that the need to make a narrative to a game that boils down to spot the difference would result in bloat to the gameplay elements that dragged the whole film. but no! i was happily wrong!
watching the ground through his eyes, seeing the tile transition to a known yellow line, then his eyes raise to see THE HALLWAY! THE HALLWAY FROM THE GAME!
then he's wheezing and breathing heavy like you'd hear in a game character, he's stumbling so his footsteps are louder like a game character. i sat there in that moment thinking "fuck yeah i could watch an hour and a half of this alone" and then it SOMEHOW GOT BETTER?!?!
the lighting was phenomenal. since my boyfriend and i played the game right before the movie, it was fresh in our minds. i was SO SATISFIED to see the similarities knowing that this is a real location. the transition in the walking man's footsteps from one loop to the next was so smooth as well. AMAZING sound design.
it was absolutely everything i could have wanted and more. it was just so cool. especially when most video game movies i've seen take the setting and game context as a thing to adapt and shape. call it pandering if you'd like, but i think it provides a great transition from the game to the film medium. and that added to my enjoyment, a level of care and acknowledgement of the atmosphere of the source material.
i guess the most recent examples of video game movies i've seen though are five nights at freddy's and the mario movie though… so maybe my bar is set kind of low for audience pandering.
the three parts
the camera pulls back and turns, showing the face of our protagonist and beginning the film in earnest. it's no longer a game where YOU are finding exit 8, it's a story about a lost man and his journey home. and fuck do i love this journey.
as a person who has also been standing on a train, pretending not to hear shouting as to not draw attention to myself, i felt my chest tighten and pin pricks climbed my shoulders. it was such a good depiction of the trapped feeling, seeing no one else act and wondering what good i could do then. then sitting with the guilt before you eventually slip off the train and forget by staring at your phone.
i was invested instantly. i had no idea how this was about exit 8 but that feeling had me frozen in place. i had to see what happened.
it isn't hiding the overall narrative — the man is avoiding his responsibilities. whether that is what leads him to exit 8 or if the entire film is simply his mind representing his inability to decide, there is no shortage of in your face mentions of this fear. but it also wasn't tiresome.
if i had a dollar for every time young people in media were scared of having a baby, holy shit. and as someone who doesn't think she wants to have kids, i do struggle with myself with all the thoughts that go into it. yeah i want to have a family someday, but am i able to create the family i want? can i shape my kids to be strong and independent when they're begging for an ipad at 4 years old?
i've felt that fear and i'm not even getting a call that my ex is pregnant.
then the thought — "how can i be a father if i can't stand up for a mother on the train?"
and in the yellow hallway when he gives into that frustration and overwhelming emotion, it's chilling. the yellow lighting of that scene, the obvious anomaly as a sign of progress but also a reminder of the situation, casts such a sickly look over the whole scene. i absolutely loved that scene.
BUT THEN ITS THE WALKING MAN?!?!!?!?
when it swapped to the walking man, i was so shocked. my boyfriend and i were just clutching each other's hands with our eyes glued to the screen. i was NOT expecting him to get any lore much less lore that weaves into the characters and story in such a satisfying way.
i thought it would feel frustrating to leave the "main" story, but each part provides amazing exit 8 visuals AND story content. the walking man and the little boy provide such an interesting perspective. the walking man says "i was supposed to meet my son today" which is an interesting coincidence in a movie built around the stress of becoming a father.
i like to think the walking man is meant to represent a future version of the lost man who continued to be passive and complacent into old age. i don't think that's what it's meant to be, but having the little boy end up being representative of his potential son, i like to think the walking man is a part of this whole cycle as well.
the part where the girl repeats the lines in the exact same way was super impressive as well! just a good, uncomfortable scare.
and the little boy… the timeline and purpose of the movie can shift depending on how the boy is viewed.
- you can say he is a mental representation of the lost man's future son and him walking off is a sign of the lost man ignoring the baby and his ex.
- you can say he is the lost man as a child and represents his want to break generational cycles but is stopped by his fear of action and the unknown. that plays into the entire premise of the film — "if you see an anomaly, turn back."
- you can say he's just a little boy looking for the way out.
- you can even say he actually IS the lost man's son and this whole subway event is just him thinking back and regretting his indecision.
and i think any explanation is fine. because seeing that man talk to the boy was so touching and i think fits into any of these interpretations. all of these then play into how you view the man's journey through the film, all the way to the end.
interpretations of the ending
to be frank, very bummer deal of an ending. remember how i said i got all worked up at the start because of how good the opening scene was? well it happened again because fuck why do i have to listen to this man yell at a poor baby.
but i didn't dislike it. it really raises a lot of good questions about the film and what comes next. here are a few of the ideas i liked:
- the call actually came before he got off the train. everything after leaving the train is in his mind, rolling over possibilities and feelings while trying to ignore the man yelling at the mother and baby. that's why he returns to the exact same spot and everything looks the same. the last frame is him moving to stop the man yelling at the mother.
- as the man starts yelling, he realizes the floor was an anomaly as everything is repeating. he is crying at realizing he has not gotten out and must return to exit 8 (if he can even find it in this new, weird world).
- everything from the movie is real. all the flashes forward and the boy were caused by the anomaly of exit 8 to reflect his mental stress. exit 8 is a place where people go when they can't make a decision and he is only able to reach 8 because he has an internal resolve after saving the boy during the flooded hall. he is crying in reflection of his journey. the last frame is him moving to stop the man yelling at the mother.
- the man is actually older, reflecting on the events with his ex from his youth. he told her to have an abortion and regrets it, imagining what could have happened if he were brave enough to be a father. that's why you can see the boy grown up and he is not treated like an anomaly. (this is a stretch one that assumes the beach scene and the shell are actual memories of the lost man.)
i think the film in a practical way is leaning towards 3, framing exit 8 as a place where people end up when they can't make a decision or are in a limbo of sorts. but it also leaves a lot of room for interpretation.
also, why'd he chug the water like that at the end loll my boyfriend wouldn't stop mentioning that specifically when we were talking about the movie after.
if you have any other interpretations of the ending or any scenes throughout, please leave a comment! i need to find people who have watched this movie NOWWWW
until next time,
amber <3
← back to home
Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own Logo