'I would've loved to have directed that one': Exit 8's Genki Kawamura on why he's excited for A24's Backrooms horror movie

Exit 8 is a great new movie that's inspired by the horror game of the same name, and it does have some similarities to A24's upcoming Backrooms. With two liminal space-focused features coming out in quick succession, I've been very excited to immerse myself in that creepy world.

In my very positive Exit 8 review, I talked about the great set design and use of tension, something I'm sure we'll see in Backrooms, too. So I was curious if Exit 8's director, Genki Kawamura, had any thoughts about A24's upcoming adaptation.

Turns out, he's a big fan and even revealed he would love to have directed that movie himself if he hadn't worked on Exit 8.

Kawamura told me, "Backrooms was a great game. I liked it. I'm very excited for the film, and if I didn't shoot Exit 8, I would have loved to have directed that one and adapted it to a film."

Beyond that, we discussed the wider appeal (or more accurately, terror) of liminal space, why we're all so scared of these seemingly normal places that suddenly become maze-like and strange.

Kawamura added: "I think liminal space offers this look or this peek, if you will, into human memory and a look inside their mind, and that to me is the more scary option rather than physical or external horrors.

"If we look at Dante's Divine Comedy and this idea of purgatory, I think when humans have to look in the mirror and see their own sins, that's a much scarier thought as an exploration. That feeling that you get is quite different from external horrors."

Liminal spaces seem to be universally understood, too, no matter where you live in the world. They take the form of ordinary spaces like office blocks, shopping malls, and indeed, subway systems like Exit 8.

They're the kind of places we all frequent, so Kawamura noted he was inspired by his everyday commute when he was developing Exit 8 for the big screen.

This required more lore and story than the video game provides. It has a very simple mechanic, and we know little about the protagonist, because we, as the player, take on that role. Here, The Lost Man becomes much more than what we see in the source material.

Kamaura said, "I live in Tokyo and commute via the subway system every day, and on the subway, there are a lot of people, but they're all on their smartphones.

"It's clear they're all in their own world, if you will, to the point where they wouldn't notice a crying baby on the train and on their smartphones and timelines."

The crying baby becomes a key theme in Exit 8, and it's something The Lost Man fixates on after receiving some big news via a phone call. Kawamura explained that these feelings of guilt and confusion influenced what was going on inside Exit 8's subway system.

He concluded, "You'll see instances of war or of violence, and I think we tend to pretend not to see a lot of that. So while we might not be guilty of directly inflicting pain or killing people, I think we are guilty of the sin of looking and not really seeing.

"So I thought, well, if we could take that sin and that guilt and put it into this very white corridor and it's almost reflected back at the people who would scroll past it on their timeline, showing up as anomalies, that would be a really interesting reflection and introspection.

"And likewise, the rules of the game are quite simple. If you notice an anomaly, you turn back. If everything's good, you keep going. And that's a binary choice. I think that looking at that choice, translating it to our daily lives, we're faced with the same choices every day."

Exit 8 is in theaters now, with Backrooms releasing on May 29. It's shaping up to be an excellent season for horror fans, and now I have high hopes for Backrooms to deliver.

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