Is this the best use of Ravel’s Bolero in a movie? You can just imagine the discordant crash of the ending. 

This is a perfect genre movie with a really clear subtext about the existential angst of fatherhood. Usually this would annoy the hell out of me – why are we so accepting of the fact that fatherhood is not seen as innate? – but I loved this from the opening notes of Bolero to the last agonising frame. 

Director Genki Kawamura has some solid producing credentials – Monster, Your Name – but this is only his second feature. Exit 8 is based on a video game, so that’s a pretty low bar to work from. A man (Kazunari Ninomiya, credited as The Lost Man) is in a train, blocking out the world with his headphones. He observes a mother with a crying baby being berated and then on his way out of the station, takes a phone call from his girlfriend with news that she is pregnant. It’s not surprising that he is suddenly thrust into an existential loop that forces him to question his choices and to make decisions. 

The subtext is not a subtle one, complete with more crying babies, lost children and angry men. What makes it work is the pace and tropes of this genre of films. We are with the Lost Man every step, trying to see anomalies, to work out what our role as humans is, to avoid the disasters. It’s a bit like being in an escape room or being stuck in the repetition of a boring task while being chased by zombies. Excellent.