What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedExam
Film · 2009
If you loved Exam, start with Criminal: UK (Jim Field Smith, 2019) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to Exam across media.
What hooked you in Exam was the way high-stakes confinement forces strangers to strip away their social masks under pressure.
Books on the same thread
The Firm
John Grisham · Book · 1991
Explores: Whistleblower, Dangerous Workplace, Moral Corruption.
Like the corporate selection process in Exam, this story explores the moral corruption inherent in powerful organizations where the professional environment becomes a dangerous, inescapable trap for the protagonist.
The Trial
Franz Kafka · Book · 1992
Explores: Alienation, Bureaucracy, Guilt.
If the bureaucratic absurdity of Exam left you unsettled, this classic mirrors that same sense of nameless, unreachable authority that dictates the fate of individuals without providing clear answers.
The Maze Runner (Book 1)
James Dashner · Book · 2014
Shares a thread with Exam: Survival.
This narrative captures the same desperate survival instinct found in Exam, forcing a group of isolated individuals to navigate a restricted space while deciphering a deadly, systemic mystery.
Under the Dome: A Novel
Stephen King · Book · 2009
Explores: Government Conspiracy, Isolation, Mass Hysteria.
Much like the windowless room in Exam, this novel uses a sudden, impenetrable barrier to isolate a group, forcing them to confront human nature when their world abruptly shrinks.
Series on the same thread
Severance
Dan Erickson · Series · 2022
Shares a thread with Exam: Psychological Thriller.
This series takes the corporate power dynamics seen in Exam to an extreme, exploring how the artificial separation of identity serves the needs of an opaque and controlling institution.
Squid Game
Hwang Dong-hyuk · Series · 2021
Shares a thread with Exam: Psychological Thriller.
This show echoes the competitive social experiment of Exam, stripping away the comforts of society to force desperate individuals into high-stakes, life-or-death challenges under the gaze of observers.
Criminal: UK
Jim Field Smith · Series · 2019
Shares a thread with Exam: Psychological Thriller.
Just as the candidates in Exam rely on dialogue to uncover hidden truths, this series maintains intense psychological friction within a confined room where language is the primary weapon.
Serial Experiments Lain
Series · 1998
Shares a thread with Exam: Psychological Thriller.
If you enjoyed the disorientation of Exam, this story offers a similar descent into a fractured reality where the boundaries of self and environment dissolve under intense pressure.
Podcasts on the same thread
Class of 09
Podcast
Shares a thread with Exam: Psychological Thriller.
This narrative mirrors the career-obsessed anxiety of Exam, placing characters in a dystopian framework where their professional trajectory is dictated by cold, algorithmic, and often inscrutable corporate forces.
The Deca Tapes
Lex Noteboom · Podcast · 2025
This podcast is the perfect successor to Exam, featuring a group of people locked in a shared space who must decipher their reality through the fragments of information available.
Keep exploring
Common questions
How long is the movie Exam?
The film Exam follows eight candidates who are given exactly 80 minutes to answer one simple question in a windowless room. The runtime of the movie corresponds to the time limit imposed on the characters during their final stage of selection.
What is the premise of the movie Exam?
Exam centers on eight talented candidates competing for a position within a powerful corporation. They are placed in a windowless room under the watch of an armed guard and must answer a single question within 80 minutes to secure the job.
Is Exam a competition-based film?
Yes, Exam is a competition-based thriller where eight individuals reach the final stage of a corporate selection process. The participants must navigate the constraints of a windowless room and an 80-minute deadline to answer a question and join the organization.
Where does the story of Exam take place?
The entirety of the movie Exam takes place inside a windowless room. The eight candidates are confined to this space under the supervision of an armed guard while they attempt to answer the single question provided to them.