Movie Review: ‘ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW’

This review was previously published during our Fantastic Fest 2013 coverage. Escape from Tomorrow is now out in select theaters and is on VOD, so we are republishing this review.

Walt Disney World, the land of corporate product America. It is supposed to be the happiest place on earth but as Escape From Tomorrow explores, it can be a psyche damaging hell, especially if you have screaming children. Escape From Tomorrow explores the world of Disney through monochromatic eyes and we follow a man who finds out he lost his job while on vacation. What follows is a man’s mid-life crisis that dives into the depths of madness and lunacy.

Obviously one of the major discussions to come from the film will be the fact that they got away with filming it at Disney World. It’s kinda crazy to really think about after you have seen the film as they accomplish quite a bit of footage that seems strong in composition. The fact that the film is in black & white definitely lends a nightmarish aspect to the film but it also addresses what might have been really color-grainy shots that would probably be unwatchable on the big screen. Also, if we are talking about technical aspects of the film, the score by Abel Korzeniowski is phenomenal. It is mysterious, adventurous and romanticizing. It fits and is magnificent on its own.

A Track from the Score

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As we follow Jim (Roy Abramsohn) through the park as he chases down two young French girls we laugh at his clumsy attempts at flirting. He daydreams about filling the void of attraction that his wife is not giving him. He starts following a path of seduction and soon realizes that something isn’t right. Is it the park or Jim?

The story of how they shot this as covertly as they did might be more interesting than the story itself. However, I assure you the film exists on its own as well. Director Randy Moore and crew construct a fever dream that just goes out of control. Think of it as National Lampoon’s Vacation but without most of the humor and more of a display of a man caught in his own hell coming from suburbia. There is a certain identification with Jim. We know his character. Hell, some of us might even have some resemblance of what he is going through. He wants a perfect family. He wants a wife that loves him. He is a man that lives in fantasy. How ironic is it that the Disney theme parks are supposed to be real life fantasy destinations? Yeah, pretty ironic. Luckily, the film doesn’t really hit you over the head with these questions. Instead, Escape From Tomorrow asks you to put your hands over the lapbar and fasten your safety belts. You are in for a wild and satiric ride.