Escape

"Fear a meaningless life, not death itself."

2024 1h 36m KO

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 88

ActionDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Fear a meaningless life, not death itself.”

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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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Lee Jong-pil
Writers: Kwon Sung-hui, Kim Woo-geun
Languages: Korean
Countries: South Korea

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 2 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Lee Jong-pil, shot by Kim Sung-an. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dalpalan. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Lee Kang-hee shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Lee Je-hoon and Koo Kyo-hwan and Hong Xa-bin carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Fear a meaningless life, not death itself.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt31898445 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 88 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Lee Jong-pil directs. Kim Sung-an behind the camera. Dalpalan scores. Lee Kang-hee cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in South Korea. Dialogue in Korean.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 2 years ago.
2Directed by Lee Jong-pil, shot by Kim Sung-an. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Dalpalan. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Lee Kang-hee shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Lee Je-hoon and Koo Kyo-hwan and Hong Xa-bin carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Fear a meaningless life, not death itself.".
7IMDB entry: tt31898445 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 88 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Kim Sung-an
Original score: Dalpalan
Editing: Lee Kang-hee
Production design: Bae Jung-yoon
Costume design: Yoon Jeong-hee
Makeup / hair: Kim Hyun-jung
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,606,856
Box office: $13,368,094
Return: 202% of budget
Original language: KO
IMDB: Escape (2024)

Also by

Lee Jong-pil

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

MovieGuys2024-09-06
★ 7/10
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.

Production companies