Exam- My take on the movie with spoilers!


PLOT SUMMARY: Eight candidates are locked in a room and have to give an exam if they are to win a prestigious job offer. 


There’s something about sitting for an exam that never leaves you even years after you’ve sat for your last one. You’ll dream about it, feel every bit of pressure you had felt long ago and worst of all you will end up staring at a blank paper as all that you have learned for that subject, deserts you.

The feeling of being lost, the pressure of being restrained by a time limit and the most important aspect of exams- being tested for your competence and knowledge- it is an unforgettable experience.

Exams either bring out the best in us or the worst in us. We are being tested for our comprehension of the subject but we are also being tested on how well we perform under pressure and how much we want to win.

In school and college, it is all about getting the highest grade, but in the movie ‘EXAM’ the answer to a question can win candidates a wonderful opportunity to work for a high profile company.

The movie gives a whole new nightmare feel to examinations. 

EXAM Movie Plot 

We are introduced to a very curt invigilator and eight candidates all with different personalities- or so we are made to believe at first.

The candidates have to answer one question and the question is right before them. The invigilator asks if there are any more questions before they begin. They are handed papers but the only problem is, that the question isn’t visible to any of the candidates and time is running out.
In eighty minutes, we are shown how the candidates learn to decipher the cryptic remarks of the invigilator and how they try to trust each other.

They all want to win and are ready to do anything for it- even kill each other for the coveted position. One by one the candidates are eliminated by either breaking rules or by a ruse. The candidates refuse to divulge their real names and are categorized by their race or hair colour.

Pressure rises and eventually, we are shown how low people can stoop to when they are promised an extravagant offer.

EXAM Ending Explained with Spoilers! 

Turns out the question had always been in front of them when the invigilator had asked them if they had any more questions. D'oh!

Through all the trials they face together and all the ideas they work on, they forget a minute detail. The question had already been asked- there had only been one question asked to them after all, right in the beginning.

This was one of those movies that makes you sit at the edge of your seat and make your own wild guesses. The suspense was superb as was the thrill. The problem though lay with how the answer was revealed that caused confusion.

Spoilers: The answer was ‘No’ but was that supposed to be given before the timer started or after a long tiring wait of eighty minutes? Some of the candidates either had loved ones who suffered from a disease that the company was creating medication for.
So were they picked on purpose to see if they would be loyal to the company or themselves?

The answer is given by the blonde woman who initially refuses the job offer but when she sees that the company she may be working for has manufactured a pill that can heal people and that she was chosen because she had sympathy and ambition, she accepts the job immediately. 

The eighty-minute exam was either there to test the candidates’ patience or their endurance. The paper they are given only carries a hint and apparently, only a magnifying glass would reveal it. In this case- the undercover CEO’s glasses. Did he expect someone to knock him out and steal his glasses in order to read the paper?

These questions will nag you, but not spoil the movie-watching experience.


The movie has all the components that would make an exciting thriller movie. This is one to watch, especially for psychology enthusiasts who are interested to learn how people would behave in such perplexing circumstances.  

Scare Scale: 3/5

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