No Escape (2015)
Certified: 15
Duration: 103 minutes
Directed by: John Erick Dowdle
Starring: Owen Wilson, Lake Bell, Pierce Brosnan, Sterling Jerins, Claire Geare, Spencer Garrett, Karen Gemma Dodgson, Byron Gibson, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Russell Geoffrey Banks
KRS Releasing Ltd
Engineer Jack Dwyer (Owen Wilson) has just arrived to a southeast Asian country with his wife Annie (Lake Bell) and two young daughters, Lucy and Beeze (Sterling Jerins and Claire Geare), to carry out works on the country’s poor water system.
On site, he meets and befriends traveller Hammond (Pierce Brosnan) and a local taxi driver ironically called Kenny Rogers (Sahajak Boonthanakit). Meanwhile, the family stays at a luxury hotel.
At one point, when Jack is out buying the only English paper available, he gets caught in a protest and in the ensuing clash between the demonstrators and the police. What Jack does not know is that a coup is in progress and when he arrives at the hotel he finds that the rebels are killing and executing foreigners. Jack is suddenly on a race to get his family out of the hotel and to safety as the danger and tension escalates rapidly.
John Erick Dowdle and his brother Drew on production duties are more well known for their horror ventures of the likes of Quarantine (2008), Devil (2010) and As Above So Below (2014), but with No Escape they make quite a splash in the thriller circuit. They approach the genre with the same piling on of obstacles and tenacity of the horror genre but transplanted into a different setting.
By bringing together such relatable items as an American white family in danger in a foreign country, the movie engages emotionally with its audience. The only surprise here is that Liam Neeson is not in it, but Wilson’s character seems to have been written with Neeson in mind.
The film ends up being a sort of a cross between Taken and The Impossible as the film walks well the fine line between action thriller and disaster movie
Dowdle directs the action with a steady hand and builds up tension accordingly. Emotionally, the film is a roller coaster while the action and tension increase as a revolution rages around the family. The action sequences have a sense of realism as the filming is carried out in newsreel-reminiscent manner.
Wilson, better known for portraying the stoned-out surfer dude, feels quite at home in the thriller genre. Bell is convincing and the young child actors are even more so as they are hauled to and fro in search of an escape from danger. Meanwhile, Brosnan plays the old coot that has seen it all and easily goes into action mode when the need calls for it.
All in all, the film ends up being a sort of cross between Taken (2008) and The Impossible (2012) as the film walks well the fine line between action thriller and disaster movie.
With dollops of the ‘fear of the unknown’ added to the film, the Dowdles deliver a strong movie which easily captures our attention and it’s very difficult not to sympathise with the characters when they are placed in such a hostile environment. The use of slow motion further amplifies the action and the characters’ plight, as well as making us root for their salvation even more.