No Escape

What can you expect from a movie called No Escape?

Actually, there is escape. But the film's 103 minutes are so dour and intense that there's little exhilaration. Just relief that your ordeal is done.

Earlier than that...

Water executive Jack Dwyer (Owen Wilson) needs a job, so he uproots his family to "Whatchamacallit", Southeast Asia (actual country isn't named for eventually obvious reasons). His wife, Annie (Lake Bell), isn't happy here, while their daughters, Lucy and Beeze, are skeptical. But ex-pat rogue Hammond (Pierce Brosnan) tells Jack he'll "like it here." Actually, it's the worst time to move overseas.

The citizens of "Whatchamacallit" are angry over the American takeover of their water plant. An Angry Mob, whose leaders names are never brought up once in-story (I think), kills the Prime Minister and topples the Government. Now they want every single foreigner dead; since Jack's new company took-over the plant, he's an especially prime target. After he and his family escape their hotel, they'll have to find salvation from the mob ... somewhere.

The Dowdle brothers, John Erick and Drew, are most famous for horror films such as Quarantine and the barely-released The Poughkeepsie Tapes. Their latest film is a thriller more disturbing than exciting. One unpleasant scene had Annie and Beeze hold up in their hotel room while the mob went around butchering the other guests. The guests' screams were certainly memorable. As Jack and family go through "Whatchamacallit," the carnage becomes tiring. The ending wasn't exactly uplifting, though it was fun to see the mob suppressed by the border.

There's a missed opportunity with the antagonists. The Angry Mob is said to have a legitimate grievance but their external characterization is "Crush! Kill! Destroy!" We don't see, or hear, of their grievance from the mob themselves. The main leader throws away his audience empathy near the end with a brutal sadistic choice.

What else to say about this movie? The frequent slow-motion was OK at best and annoying at worst. The intended humor was flat. One major elephant-in-the-room, involving the US Embassy, was thankfully addressed. If the brutality of No Escape has a postive, then it lets the audience know what it's like to be in an urban war zone. But I don't think that's a destination most viewers want to book.