Cannes and Toronto Film Festival Thriller EXIT 8 Sets U.S. Release by Neon

Neon will release the Japanese thriller Exit 8 in theaters nationwide on April 10, 2026. Directed by Genki Kawamura, the film world-premiered in the midnight section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it received an 8-minute standing ovation.

It has since created excitement after screening at several other top-tier international festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival, the Sitges Film Festival, the Busan International Film Festival. Currently, it is playing at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. 

Genki Kawamura has produced numerous films, including Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name and Mirai, Mamoru Hosoda’s Belle and Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s Monster. He won the Best Director Award for his directorial debut, A Hundred Flowers (2022), at the 70th San Sebastián International Film Festival. He also wrote the 2012 worldwide bestseller If Cats Disappeared From The World, which sold over 2 million copies in 32 countries. Exit 8 is his second film as a director.

Based on the global hit eponymous video game created by Kotake Create, the movie follows a man (Kazunari Ninomiya) trapped in an endless, sterile subway passageway as he sets out to find Exit 8.

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. Will he ever reach his goal and escape this infinite corridor?

The film stars Kazunari Ninomiya, Yamato Kochi, Naru Asanuma, Kotone Hanase and Nana Komatsu. It is written by Genki Kawamura and Kentaro Hirase. The producers are Yuto Sakata, Kenji Yamada, Akita Yamamoto, and Taichi Ito.

Photo courtesy of Neon