DVD review: Exam

Eight candidates, one job.

In this period it’s difficult to get more topical than the job interview from hell. The writer/director Stuart added some scifish elements to the setting, probably to explain some of the extremes that the candidates go to win the coveted job, but I could easily imagine it happening somewhere in this very moment.

The basic concept is brilliant. When the eight candidates discover that the papers which supposedly contained the questions are blank they resort to increasingly terrible methods to eliminate each other figuring that the last remaining candidate will get the job.

The resolution is satisfying, it’s not as brilliant as the beginning but manages to tie up everything nicely which, as Lost taught us, is not really that easy.

The direction is interesting. The film takes place in it’s entirely in a single room reminiscent of the classical corporate architecture. This gives it a nice claustrophobic and detached feeling.

The various characters are more general archetypes than real rounded personas. This is even acknowledged by the movie itself when everybody instead of receiving a name is given a generic nickname based on its physical characteristics. So we get Blonde, Brunette, Dark, Deaf etc. This contributes to the sense of paranoia but gives also a very cerebral sense to the movie. It’s difficult to really get behind the contestant and you’ll find yourself more engaged by the ongoing mystery of the true nature of the exam.

A good movie for people that want something different, it could have been better but as it is it’s still extremely original and interesting.