This is the directorial debut feature from London screenwriter Stuart Hazeldine, who has already contributed to two recent major Hollywood screenplays – the remake of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and Alex Proya’s KNOWING. Hazeldine was one of the guest panellists at SCI-FI-LONDON 8, where he showed the first ten minutes of the film, and it had me intrigued from the outset. The premise is simple enough: eight ambitious young people, of different cultural backgrounds, are vying for one of the most important jobs going at a major corporation in near future Britain. They are sat in a room, at desks, where they are given specific instructions from the authorative Invigilator (Colin Salmon) on how to do the exam. When they turn over their papers the page is blank. Working within the set down guidelines they have to find the answer without being disqualified.
Comparisons with films such as CUBE and the recent FERMAT’S ROOM are inevitable, but it is more like Big Brother meets The Apprentice, but in a watchable real-time length of just under 90 minutes. As the “reality” shows have demonstrated, competition and confined space can bring out the best and worst in people, and this is clearly shown in Hazeldine’s movie. Although the cast is relatively unknown there are some good performances particularly from Luke Mably, but none of them are a match for Sam Rockwell in the other UK indie sci-fi flick from last year, MOON.
It is debatable whether this is even a sci-fi movie despite the future setting, even though it is equally as much an exploration of the human condition as MOON is, but forgoes the typical sci-fi elements of spaceships and/or aliens. However Hazeldine is a big sci-fi fan and it is genre of choice, and he has clearly created a futuristic vision of the world in which to set the story. A bigger budget version of the film may have explored more of that world, but Hazeldine has shown us that it is possible to tell an intriguing story with a single set, without having to rely on lots of effects.
With the single set and dialogue-heavy script it should feel more theatrical than it is, so it is to Hazeldine’s credit as a director that he has managed to make it so cinematic. EXAM may not break any new ground in storytelling (but neither did AVATAR with its $300m price tag), but it is a fiercely independent Brit sci-fi film that deserves our support if we want to see more original, intelligent films being produced in this country.
EXAM is on limited release in the UK from January 8.
If you want to find out more about how EXAM was made, there is a special screening of the film, followed by a workshop with Stuart Hazeldine, conducted by Chris Jones (author of The Guerrilla Filmmakers Handbook). The screening is on Sunday January 10 at 2:15 at Odeon Panton Street (off Leicester Square). Find out more and purchase tickets (£14) only from Chris Jones’s blog.