No Escape tells the story of an American engineer named Jack Dwyer (Owen Wilson) who
brings his family to an unnamed Southeast Asian country after getting a new job
in a firm that aims to improve the country’s water supply. His hope of beginning a new life with his family
as expats on that country is immediately thrown into a horrifying tailspin when, barely a
day has passed in their new environment, the place suddenly explodes into
chaos, as rebel militia overruns the country, killing Americans on sight. With all hell breaking loose, Jack must bring
his family to safety.
No Escape is probably the most heart-pumping movie I’ve seen this
year so far. Really. Among all the suspenseful 2015 films – both
action or horror – that I’ve seen so far, there is none that has the same kind of
tension-filled and uneasy sequences (there’s this one scene involving Jack’s wife
that thoroughly made me sick to the stomach) that this movie has. My palms were sweaty all throughout this
movie, and there were more than one time that I found myself holding my breath and
then gasping for air.
What makes No Escape more terrifying than a horror film is because its set-up
is more realistic. It’s like a zombie
apocalypse movie, but without the zombies.
Instead of a horde of zombies, it has a horde of murderous and armed
rebels. It’s a real-life hypothetical
scenario, but has the same sense of frenzy and apprehension that a typical
zombie apocalypse tale has. Now, this
movie may have some xenophobic undertones as some people pointed out (though I
don’t personally buy it), but to be fair, this kind of stuff had happened and
is happening.
And because the narrative focuses
on a family, not just any group of characters, the stakes are empathetically
high. The family dynamic intensifies
each perilous sequence that the characters have to go through, as the main
character doesn’t only have himself to keep safe and take care of, but his
family as well. We really want this family to survive and escape.
Furthermore, being a well-acted
movie further helps it in delivering a terrifying, believable, and absorbing
narrative. Owen Wilson, Lake Bell, and
the two child actors (who played the daughters) really gave compelling
performances. Pierce Brosnan, in a supporting
role, is also pretty good, though it was easy for me to guess what his role in
the story was going to be – it was that predictable.
All in all, despite having some flaws
in the plot and production, No Escape
is a legitimately gripping thriller with a strong cast and a provocative
script.
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