Movie Review: Escape From Tomorrow (2013)

Escape From Tomorrow is a bizarre, surreal and down right ballsy film. Writer and director Randy Moore has taken something that most people equate with happiness and fun and turned it on its head and perhaps provides commentary on commercialism, symbolism and what lies under the surface of the everyday. Filmed at Disneyland/Disney World – without a permit – Escape From Tomorrow could well be one of the braver films made in recent years.

When Jim (Roy Abramsohn) and his wife and two kids are holidaying at the theme park, Jim is given the unfortunate news that he has been let go from his job. He keeps this to himself and the family go out on their last day of holidays. His wife Emily (Elena Schuber) seems less interested in Jim and more interested in berating Jim, especially when Jim becomes infatuated with two underage French girls at the park. As the day wears on, Jim’s reality (if it is even his reality) begins to unravel slowly at first and as things gather pace the film goes from unsettling and odd to all out strange and weird.  

The film is beautifully shot in black and white, everything is crisp and clean and really lends itself to its setting. Moore uses the park very well, creating a lot of tension and foreboding just through the way the film is shot and the editing is used to exacerbate this feeling. The score is very orchestral, which proves to be jarring when put up against the images on screen, but perhaps it was a deliberate move. There are few what seem to be green screen shots which I think complement the trippy nature of the film, even though they seem out of place.

Escape From Tomorrow is well acted. Abramsohn and Schuber do a great job at conveying just how much the family is falling apart. Abramsohn plays Jim as a very jaded, selfish guy who should be looking after his family better. The rest of the characters they meet along the way are all good, with their main purpose being to antagonize or tantalize Jim.

With a film that deals in surrealism, there is always the propensity to be a little bit arthouse. There are times when the tension and feeling of unease are almost unbearable, but unfortunately the pressure and build up of this is let off by periods of the film that are very tedious. I think some sharper editing could have helped this out. The film has some very David Lynch-esque moments, especially in the last full on loony twenty minutes. In no way is that a bad thing!

A film like Escape From Tomorrow can be judged on a few different levels. On one level, as mentioned before, it is a ballsy project and one that so far (and I don’t know how or why) hasn’t been legally challenged by the mouse. The film in essence should have been shut down in this day and age of lawyers and litigation for all. As a film, it is a mixed bag There are some really terrific things happening in the film, some superfluous stuff and some downright strange ideas. However, these things don’t always mesh together well enough. Adding up everything as a whole, Escape From Tomorrow is certainly worth seeing. If for nothing else, to marvel at the sheer audacity of the project or maybe just for a really frightening look at the happiest place on earth.

 

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