Exam, Competitive Hiring Process

Gemma Chan is a hot Asian.  In this film we see her looking really good.  Wait!  Ms. Chan is a modern woman.  She's empowered.  She's no one's patsy.  Gemma Chan does not take a backseat to any man.  She has worth and ability.  The lovely lady wants us to know why she believes she is best for a competitive and high paying job. Thankfully, when it is apparent she will not don a bikini in this film, the babe is dragged off set and thrown onto the street...never to be seen again. I guess she didn't get the memo. Hence 2009's "Exam," directed by Stuart Hazeldine.

Eight job applicants (four hunks and four babes...or, most of them, anyway) have reached the final stage of the hiring process...the written test.  During the credits we are made to understand the earlier stages of the process may have been tortuous and perhaps bloody. Now, all eight are looking good (well, most of them).  The instructions...they have 80 minutes to answer one question...do not attempt to leave the room. Each candidate is given a piece of paper and pencil and told to begin.  Uh oh...nothing is written on the paper.  Gemma Chan, being assertive and empowered begins writing an essay on why she believes she should be hired for the position.  Before finishing the first sentence, a guard forcibly removes the confident dame, kicking and screaming.

Seven remain...with no clue what they are supposed to do.  White (Luke Mably), a hunk who is a cut-throat. Dark (Adar Beck) is a sultry shrink. Black (Chukwuki Iwuji) is a Christian. Deaf (John Lloyd Fillingham) is a maybe deaf and frumpy Frenchman. Brunette (Polyanna McIntosh) is a beautiful and ambitious businesswoman.  Brown (Jimi Mistry) is an Indian and as we find out a former soldier. Then the blonde babe, Blonde (Nathalie Coz).  With Gemma's removal, the seven must put their heads together to figure out what they are supposed to do...more importantly...what is the one question they must answer. These seven will not gel...in fact violence and bloodshed will ensue. In the end...all the answers are delivered...as many lives will be destroyed.

Was Gemma Chan's character dragged out and put into another room to compete for a secretary position or something more suited a woman?  Just what is that one question that must be answered and why weren't the job candidates told what it was?  Could a remake be done with each character clad in a swimsuit?  Interesting and not entirely overwhelming, "Exam" delves into the psyche of cut-throats and type A persons...not very favorably, I might add.  See "Exam" before your next job interview.