Feature2024·96m·7.2

Escape

Fear a meaningless life, not death itself.

ActionDramaThriller

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.

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Cast

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

Details

Status
Released
Original language
Korean
Languages
Korean
Budget
$6.6M
Revenue
$13.4M
Age rating
Quality
4K UHD · HDR10 · Dolby Vision
Production
The LAMPPlus M Entertainment

Crew

Director

Lee Jong-pil

Writers

Kim Woo-geun, Kwon Sung-hui, Lee Jong-pil, Moon Byung-gon

Kim Sung-an

Director of Photography

Lee Kang-hee

Editor

Yoon Jeong-hee

Costume Design

Bae Jung-yoon

Production Design

Dalpalan

Original Music Composer

Gallery

Reviews

MovieGuys

9/6/2024

7.0

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.