Movie of the Week: Exam

Alexa: I knew nothing about “Exam” before watching it, and I would highly encourage others to go into it with the same approach if at all possible. The less you know, the better. Since this was Jason’s pick, I assumed it would be a horror movie - which can be hit or miss for me - but “Exam” is actually my favorite kind of thriller. It’s purely psychological, with the suspense built around the intricacies of human nature. The premise is simple on the surface: Eight candidates for a high-powered job enter a room where they are to take an exam as the final piece of their interview. One question, one answer - except the question isn’t apparent, and that dilemma is the springboard for a complex web of responses and interactions from the candidates as their layers are gradually pulled back. At what point does collaboration intersect with competition? How do people work together when the ultimate goal is to help yourself? What are your motivations and instincts when working toward something you want desperately with people who are just as driven as you? “Exam” is a prime example of quality low-budget cinema. It has one set, few actors, no costume changes, no substantial special effects, and that no-frills approach allows those core questions to shine through untarnished. It’s an unpredictable ride that keeps you on your toes in intriguing ways.

Joel: Almost every book on screenwriting is going to say something about having an elevator pitch. This basically is how you would describe your movie if you only had the length of an elevator ride to do so. This movie has a fantastic elevator pitch. Eight people in a room. A one question exam where nobody knows the question and a time limit on top of it all. It's a simple premises where you almost immediately have a ton of different ways that you could go.The setup for the movie is fantastic and it hooks you in right out of the gate. Within the first ten minutes the rules of the exam are established and the consequences are made clear.

The tricky thing for a movie like this is maintaining a slow but reasonable escalation to the climax of the movie. This is a difficult thing to do, and it's not pulled off perfectly here, but the characters and the situation are well enough established that as tensions rise as the movie progresses, nothing seems to come out of left field.

Exam is a tight, surprisingly well polished thriller that uses its limited budget to it's advantage, relying on the characters and moving at a remarkably quick pace to keep the tensions mounting throughout the entire movie.

Chris: I would be interested to see this movie adapted to the stage because, honestly, I was surprised to find out this wasn’t a play first because it has that feel about it especially since the entire movie takes place in one room and in real time. The one complaint I have of this movie is the ending in the sense I felt like there was too much explaining going on. Of course, some explanation was necessary such as what exactly the question was but the rest would have been better if it was integrated a different way or if the end was left more ambiguous. Without spoiling too much, the question ended up being something like a high school teacher would’ve thrown into a test just to make sure the students were paying attention. Ultimately, aside from a few things I would’ve changed about the ending, Exam was a lot of fun and an interesting watch.

Jason: Watching this movie is like listening to a piano wire being tightened. As the pressure builds, the pitch rises higher and higher until it snaps. And this movie takes a loooong time to snap. It's claustrophobic. It's minimalistic. And it's personal. The eight players in this game get into each other’s heads as well as their own to try and solve the riddle placed before them. It's impossible to talk much about the plot without giving away the whole thing. The way the characters allow their analysis of the situation to evolve as the wire tightens is frightening in how plausible it all is. People will do awful things to one another in the name of self-advancement. This movie fully subscribes to that.

I've seen this one a few times now and going into it knowing what will happen is a little different but no less compelling. However, this time, all I kept thinking was “Man, what would it be like to be that guard?!”