Escape

Escape

2024-07-03 1h 36m
Action Drama Thriller
7.3
User Score
53 votes

"Fear a meaningless life, not death itself."

Overview

After completing his required decade of military service and being honored as a hero, a North Korean sergeant makes a sudden shocking attempt to defect to the South, risking life and limb for the chance to finally determine his own destiny.

Lee Jong-pil

Director

Kwon Sung-hui

Writer

Top Billed Cast

Movie Details

Status

Released

Original Language

ko

Budget

$N/A

Revenue

$13,368,094

Runtime

1h 36m

Release Date

2024-07-03

Recommendations

Reviews

MovieGuys

MovieGuys

2024-09-06T22:07:27.281Z

Having seen the trailers for Escape I looked forward to this film but somehow, it didn't quite live up, to my expectations. On the upside there is a lot of decent action and characterisations. The two main protagonists, the soldier trying to defect to the South and the North Korean senior officer, pursing him, are well rendered and inherently interesting. That said, Escape fails to bring things together in a wholly satisfying way. It repeatedly builds and dissipates tension over the course of the film, making the experience feel uneven and at times, a little repetitive. On a different note there's also a dash of the by now usual woke nonsense, clumsily designed to highlight the "intolerance" of the North Korean regime towards people of differing sexual proclivities. I don't really care but the incessant politicking is tiresome. You could argue too, there's a counter argument for being "tolerant" of differing, non-westernized, societal norms but anyway...... In summary, a reasonable action thriller that could have been a lot more enjoyable again, with a tighter, more focused script.