Exam is a 2009 British psychological thriller film produced, written and directed by Stuart Hazeldine and starring Colin Salmon, Chris Carey, Jimi Mistry, Luke Mably, Gemma Chan, Chukwudi Iwuji, John Lloyd Fillingham, Pollyanna McIntosh, Adar Beck and Nathalie Cox.
In the film, eight candidates for a highly desirable corporate job are locked together in an exam room and given a final test with just one seemingly simple question. However, it doesn’t take long for confusion to ensue and tensions to unravel.
Just finished watching this.
I’m not sure how I feel about it. They did well enough at creating some tension but the overall story and resolution just felt lacking.
The idea behind a thriller like this, in my mind, is usually for you to discover the solution to the problem alongside the characters. Misdirects are fine but to have information completely unrelated to the solution revealed right at the end as though that is how you should solve it really hurts the vibe.
The consistent flashbacks also show that they needed to do something to try to help guide the audience to an answer. In the end it isn’t a reasonable conclusion with the information presented. It’s meant as more of a “haha gotcha!” outcome.