Release date: January 8, 2010
The cast: Jimi Mistry, Colin Salmon, Luke Mably
The pitch: Eight individuals are in competition for a job at a secretive corporation. They sit down in a locked room to take the final exam, only to find that the paper is blank. They have 80 minutes to find out what the question is… and how to answer it.
The strapline: ‘80 Minutes. 8 Candidates. 1 Answer. No Question.’ But the trailer’s strapline (‘Your Time Starts Now’) is better…
The buzz: This real-time Brit thriller premiered to encouraging reviews at the Edinburgh Festival this summer, with critics comparing it favourably to Cube, the 1997 concept thriller with a similar one-room premise. The cast list is hardly bursting with star names, and rookie director Stuart Hazeldine is an unknown quantity, which means its nationwide roll-out in January can only be based on its quality. A good sign, you’d have to say.
Reasons this could be good: Having a high concept and a low budget can be inspirational, as the makers of not just Cube, but Saw, Rec and Primer can attest. And this is a killer premise. From the evidence of the trailer, Hazeldine has glossed the film with a cinematic sheen rather than a could-be-on-TV look, complete with futuristic-looking sets and atmospheric lighting. It’s good to see Colin Salmon – the man once tipped to be the first black Bond – on cinema screens. When he says “disqualified”, is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that he means “killed”?
Reasons this could be bad: The problem with high concept is that it has to have a very well thought-out end point to avoid disappointing the audience. Think of Danny Boyle’s Sunshine, a terrific concept movie with a loud, wet fart of an ending. We can only hope this doesn’t do the same. Hazeldine’s CV is worryingly slight, his main experience being rewrites of Knowing and last year’s The Day the Earth Stood Still remake. And this really is a cast of bit-part actors and former soap stars. Check out Jimi Mistry’s Jason Statham impression at 0:46. This could end up being The Apprentice: The Movie.
We think: This trailer does a damn good job of selling Exam. In the space of a tautly-edited couple of minutes, we are introduced to the concept, shown flashes of the main characters – spot the hard-ass, the nutcase, the nerd – and shown that some serious shit is going to go down. Our only criticism? That final shot seems quite spoilerific. But, it’s been a long time since British cinema has seen a successful, truly home-grown concept thriller. We hope this can live up to the promise of this exciting promo.
Music: Some Hans Zimmer-like percussive strings to begin with, complete with the ubiquitous high-pitched plucked violin solo (1:24) used to build tension. Then, some 28 Days Later-style rumbling guitar work as all hell breaks loose.
Did you spot?: Check out 1:38. Are they attempting to give a paper cut to her eye? Eesh. Maybe this is more Saw than Cube…
Odds of you seeing it: With Up in the Air, Nowhere Boy and The Road all out at the same time, Exam might be low down your list of priorities in January. But let’s face it – what else do you have to do that month except sit in the cinema?
