No Escape

Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 28th August, 2015
Time : 103 minutes
Director, Co-Writer : John Erick Dowdle; Co-Writer: Drew Dowdle; Music : Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders
Starring : Owen Wilson, Lake Bell, Pierce Brosnan, Sterling Jerins, Claire Geare, Sahajak Boonthanakit

Imagine landing in an exotic (for the Americans) land, somewhere around Thailand,Vietnam, with your family, only to find, in a few hours the place erupting in a revolution with vigilante mobs going around executing all foreigners on sight.

Owen Wilson, finds himself in this predicament, with seemingly no way out. He and his wife, Lake Bell, with their two young daughters (Sterling, Claire) arrive for his expat job with an American water company, barely settle in their hotel and soon find events spiraling out of control. The Prime Minister is shot dead and soon bloodthirsty mobs roam the once peaceful streets. Pierce Brosnan, British, had been on the same flight as them, is in the country primarily for women (or so he says), is staying on the same hotel and may have a part to play, as he’s a regular in the country. But things look really bleak…

This one is all about the tension. About moving from one predicament to another. Just when the family (and you) begin to feel slightly safe – Boom! – next thunderbolt will strike. The young daughters are also shown to be the typical American types – will feel hungry, want to go to the bathroom, wont want to jump – even when clearly their own lives are in peril – and Owen, who’s not been very successful in life and has to mend bridges with his wife – has his hands full as they try to stay alive

It’s not a bad one time watch though I’ve never heard the word ‘Okay’ spoken as many times in one film. The violence shown is brutal, but the pressure-cooker atmosphere does permeate through and makes you want the young American family to make it to safety. Of course, whether they do or not, is another matter.

PS : Found it deliciously ironical that one of the possible safe options was for an American family to go over to the nearby Vietnamese border and seek asylum.