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 Je-hoon
Lim Kyu-nam
Koo Kyo-hwan
Lee Hyun-sang
Hong Xa-bin
Kim Dong-hyuk
Seo Hyun-woo
Major Cha
Lee Sung-wook
Lieutenant Hong
Yoo Tae-joo
Captain Ryu
Jung Jun-won
Second Lieutenant Park
Jang Young-nam
Dong-hyuk's Mother
Song Kang
Min Sun-woo
Esom
Nomad Leader
Lee Ho-jung
Girl with Rifle
Shin Hyun-ji
Sang-gu's Sister
Lee Ho-cheol
Drunken General
Kim Sang-heun
Officer Jung
Park Yoon-hee
Director of the General Political Department
Woo Jeong-won
Director's Wife
Cha Soon-bae
Division Commander
Song Yo-sep
Battalion Commander
Jin Yong-uk
Company Commander
Jang Yo-hoon
Squad 1
O Seung-baek
Squad 2
Jung Ha-neul
Rifle
Lee Tae-young
On-call
Choi Min-woo
Division Officer
Bae Cheol-soo
Radio DJ
Park Ga-young
Ballroom Woman
Kim Da-Sol
Company Commander
Kim Yoon-bae
Wandering Man
Lee Seung-yong
Security guard
Kim Han-sang
Ballroom Officer
Lee Moo-nyoung
Ballroom Officer
Director, Adaptation
Lee Jong-pil
Writer
Kwon Sung-hui
Writer
Kim Woo-geun
September 6, 2024
7
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.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
Korean
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$13,368,094.00