SYNOPSIS
The film is set in an alternate history, present-time United Kingdom. Eight candidates dress for what appears to be an employment assessment exam, entering a room and sitting at individual desks. Each desk contains a question paper with the word "candidate", followed by a number, from one to eight. The Invigilator, a representative of the company named DATAPREV, explains that the exam is 80 minutes and consists of only one question, but there are three rules. The candidates must not; talk to the Invigilator or the armed guard at the door, spoil their paper, or leave the room. If they do, they will be disqualified.
As the exam starts, it turns out that the papers are blank; one Chinese candidate is immediately disqualified for writing on and therefore spoiling her paper. The seven remaining candidates realize they can talk to each other and work together. "White" suggests nicknames for the others based on physical appearance ("Black", "Blonde", "Brown", "Brunette", and "Dark"), and "Deaf" for one candidate who does not pay attention to the others.
With White in control, the group use the lights, bodily fluids, and fire sprinklers to reveal the question on any paper, with no luck. It is revealed that the company in question is responsible for a miracle drug which a large part of the population are dependent upon after a viral pandemic, including Brunette's partner. White tricks Brunette into burning her paper so the group can test the water sprinklers, and Deaf into ripping up his own paper, disqualifying them both.
White then taunts the others, saying he knows the question but will not tell them. Black punches White in the face, knocking him unconscious and ties him to a chair. As White passes out, he pleads for his medication, implying he has the virus. Brown then turns his attention to Dark, who demonstrates much knowledge about the internal workings of the company, and eventually tortures her into revealing that she works for the company. White then goes into convulsions, showing he has the disease. Dark pleads to the Invigilator for help and is disqualified.
Blonde retrieves the medication for White, reviving him. The others release him, demanding to know the question. White suggests that there is no question and the company is going to hire the last remaining candidate. Black steals the guard's gun, but it requires the guard's fingerprint ID, giving White time to retrieve it. White forces Brown to leave the room at gunpoint, disqualifying him, but when he forces Blonde to leave, she turns off the voice-activated lights, allowing Black to attack White.
The lights come back on after Black is struck by a gunshot. Blonde is hiding in the hallway, still holding one foot inside the room. Before White can kill her, the exam timer runs to zero. White then addresses the Invigilator and is disqualified, as Deaf had earlier set the countdown forward by a few minutes. Blonde then remembers that Deaf had been using glasses and a piece of broken glass with an exam paper earlier. Taking the abandoned glasses, she finds the phrase "Question 1." on the exam paper in minuscule writing.
Blonde realises that Question 1 refers to the only question asked of the group by the Invigilator ("Any questions?"). She answers "No." The Invigilator then enters and reveals that Deaf is actually the CEO of the company and inventor of the virus cure, which can also heal any wound. The bullet that hit Black contained this cure, and he awakens healed. With the drug about to be released publicly, the company needed to hire someone who while able to make tough decisions, is also compassionate, which Blonde had demonstrated throughout the exam. Having passed the exam, Blonde accepts her new job.
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