Like The Impossible before it, No Escape continues the time-honored Hollywood tradition of charting a catastrophic foreign event by following a sympathetic, white family as they struggle to survive being outside their safe home country. This time around, it’s not a tsunami but a violent revolution that threatens said family (led by Owen Wilson and Lake Bell), but the song remains the same – stranded in an unspecified Asian country they don’t know, the Americans must hide from all the Asians and enlist the help of another, more grizzled white guy (Pierce Brosnan) if they are to get out alive.
I’m all for fast-paced action-thrillers, but the basic tenet of No Escape just seems icky and somewhat xenophobic. Wilson and Bell’s characters leave America for a new country, and once they get there, they realize that their new home is a tumultuous warzone where they’re immediately wanted dead by gun-toting foreigners all speaking a language they don’t know. Cue frantic running around as the family struggles to survive Asia and get home to safe, politically stable (ha) America.
Regardless, John Erick Dowdle (Quarantine, Devil) sat behind the camera here, which suggests No Escape should be able to check all the boxes for standard genre fare. It opens September 2.
Jack (Owen Wilson) is a man desperate to protect his family in this intense, fast-paced action thriller that will leave you breathless.
As he relocates his family to Asia, with wife Annie (Lake Bell) and their two young girls, Jack has no idea of the terror that lies in store. Within days of their arrival, a violent political uprising has swept through the city and the family are on the run frantically searching for safety as rebels mercilessly attack, executing all foreigners.
With seasoned expat Hammond (Pierce Brosnan) as their only ally, time is against Jack and his family as they are viciously hunted down. Desperately attempting to survive in a country under siege, their courage is put to the ultimate test.