Exam (2009)

Exam is a British low-budget indie thriller, reportedly made for US$600,000. Due to the setting of the film (which all happens in a kind of bunker-looking room) and the fact that it involves exactly ten actors, the budget seems reasonable. The story involves eight main characters, though we quickly lose one, plus one in a non-speaking role and Colin Salmon (who’s face you may recognize from many UK and US TV series, as well as a few James Bond films, a couple from the Resident Evil series, AVP: Alien Vs. Predator, Punisher: War Zone, Devil’s Playground, London Has Fallen and more) who appears early then disappears only to return late in the film. The main cast includes a few familiar faces, namely Luke Mably (28 Days Later, Isolation, Rise of the Foot Soldier Part II, Chosen), Jimi Mistry (East is East, The Guru, Blood Diamond, Rock N Rolla, West is West), Gemma Chan (Submarine, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Stratton, Transformers: The Last Knight), Adar Beck (The Debt) and Pollyanna McIntosh (TV’s The Walking Dead, Offspring, The Woman, Let Us Prey, Blood Ride). They are joined by Nathalie Cox, Chukwudi Iwuji, John Lloyd Fillingham and Chris Carey.

The premise consists of elements from, and is thus reminiscent of, films such as Cube (1997), Fermat’s Room (2007) and even Saw (2004). The performances are quite strong overall, with very few missteps along the way and the production value, considering the one location, is decent. Director Stuart Hazeldine (who directed last year’s The Shack) does enough here to keep us interested and engaged throughout.

While well written, I still thought there is a tendency here to go towards the familiar and somewhat cliché and therefore, not take too many risks. While the build-up is suspenseful and interesting enough, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed by the time the end credits were rolling.

Well worth the 80-minutes playing time. 6.5/10.