The film of the English director “Exam” was shot in the genre of chamber psychological thriller. The creator himself calls himself a supporter of minimalism, and in this case, the picture is a philosophy of how far people can go for their own purpose. Events develop in a single microcosm. The script is written universally and can be exemplified by the fate of each person who is looking for a good job.
“Exam” (psychological thriller): plot
The plot focuses on eight talented applicants for a vacant position in a large company. On the way to their goal, they already had to overcome numerous checks and tests, and here lies the final exam. Actors convey well the emotions and feelings that each person would have had in this situation.
All contestants are taken to a room where there are several tables, on each of which are sheets of paper with the candidate number and pencils. Heroes remain under the supervision of cameras and a silent guard. A strict observer says the following: "The dream job will go to the one who answers the last question within 80 minutes." However, he leaves without having voiced the main question.
The conditions for passing the exam are as follows: whoever speaks with the supervisor or security guard, ruins his paper or leaves the office will be removed from the office and disqualified. Any questions? The examiner leaves, 80 minutes have subsided. Turning over their sheets of paper, the contestants discover that nothing is written on them. At this moment, everyone is in shock, because it is not known what question they should answer. An Asian girl begins to write on her sheet and immediately breaks the rule not to spoil it, therefore, she will be disqualified.
One of the men draws general attention to the fact that you can’t talk only with the observer and the guard, and they can easily communicate with each other. To keep their personalities secret, the contestants give each other nicknames:
- White.
- The black.
- Dark.
- Blonde.
- Brunette.
- Brown hair.
- Deaf.
It also turns out that spoiling someone else's paper and pacing the office is allowed. In search of a question that needs to be answered, the contestants just do not. They break the lamps, looking for infrared rays, wet the paper in water, set fire to it. No manipulations help them find the cherished exam question.
The only one who pulled away from everyone and does not take part in all the manipulations is Deaf. The only thing this man says is: "You only need to see clearly."
The brunette decides to provoke the fire alarm to wet the sheets and see watermarks on them, but it turns out she set fire to her sheet, so she will be disqualified. From the communication between the subjects, the viewer becomes clear that the activities of the organization, where everyone wants to get a job, is associated with the development of drugs for a dangerous deadly disease.
All participants of the exam get clear characteristics from the Brown-haired woman, whose role is played by Adar Beck. The most vile is White. He makes the Deaf to spoil his sheet, taking advantage of his suggestibility, after which Black decides to bind the aggressor so that he does not interfere with cohesive work in the team.
Dark-skinned tortures Brown-haired woman, trying to cut her leg with a sharp sheet of paper, considering her a "decoy duck." After this, Bely threatens to kill everyone by taking the gun from the guard, and shoots Black.
Left alone in the room, Bely shouts to the observer and the guard that he passed the exam, because there was no one else left, and time had already passed. However, in fact, the time has not yet expired, just the timer was started in accelerated mode, and the man was removed from the office as not fulfilling the conditions.
The blonde, played by Natalie Cox, walks into the room, finds the deaf glasses, uses them as a magnifying glass, and, having examined one of the sheets of paper, finds the inscription on it: “Question 1”. The girl recalls that before leaving the observer asked: "Do you have any questions?" When the Deaf person enters the office, who is the representative of the company, the Blonde replies: “No, there are no questions,” and gets a job in the company.
Criticism
The film was perceived ambiguously by film critics. The main focus of the director was on the individuality of each character. All applicants are universal types that are found in the world, while they do not even have names. The actors involved in the film “Exam” are of considerable interest. Some of them are familiar to the viewer: Gemma Chan, Colin Salmon, Jimi Mystry, others flickered less on the big screen: Luke Mabley, Adar Beck, the third part is generally unknown to the public. Each character embodies one of the traditional types: social Darwinist, religious fanatic, philosopher, player, and psychologist. Each of them has its own methods of struggle.
Hazeldine plays with the audience and characters, technically manipulating stereotypes, audience perceptions and riddles, the answer to which is known only to him.
Viewers reviews
The picture was a great success with the audience, although opinions about it were divided. Some consider the ending of the story too weak, others think that the creators dragged on a tense moment. In any case, the picture deserves attention. Most people who watched the film rated it positively.
The film "Exam": the cast
Famous actors and little-known ones worked in the picture. The key character - White - went to Luke Mabley. A strict observer was played by Colin Salmon. Dark-skinned is the work of actor Jimi Mystry. The mysterious representative of the company among the contestants, who was nicknamed Deaf, is John Lloyd Fillingham. The guard in Katrina was Chris Carey.
In the film “Exam”, the actors masterfully coped with their task, but without the female half the experiment would have failed. The following actresses performed the roles of the girls:
- Pollyanna McIntosh - Brunette.
- Gemma Chan is a Chinese woman.
- Natalie Cox - Blonde.
- Adar Beck - Brown-haired.
The creators and authors of the film
The components of the success of the film “Exam” are actors, a good script, the work of a director and director. This picture is the result of the cohesive work of a team of authors, among which:
- Chris Jones (producer).
- Stuart Hazeldine - screenwriter.
- Patrick Bill - artist (director).
Chinese
Charming Asian in the film was played by Gemma Chan. The girl is familiar to viewers from her work in many projects, for example: The Secret Girl Call Diary, Sherlock, Doctor Who. While studying at college, film producer Damian Jones from Britain turned her attention to the girl, after which Gemma took part in the film "Doctor Who," and then starred in the "Exam."
Test blonde
The role of the happy owner of prestigious work was performed by the beauty model and actress from England Natalie Cox. She could be seen more than once on the covers of glossy magazines Vogue, Marie Claire and others. Also, the girl took part in a TV show. Since 2005, Natalie began her career in cinema. In addition to the film “Exam”, Cox starred in such films as “The Kingdom of Heaven”, “Star Wars: Unbridled Force”, “Teleport”.