Escape was destined to be one of the best Spanish films of the year, but it is lost in its coldness and metaphors

When I hear Rodrigo Cortés speak, I can’t help but stay silent. Anyone who has ever followed this director on his podcast Todopoderosos, or even listened to him in any of his numerous interviews, will know that we are dealing with a cinema prodigy. No one in Spain speaks about cinema with more authority and wisdom. That is why it hurts me greatly that his films, ironically, do not captivate me for even a moment.

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While Cortés is a genius who goes beyond his cinematographic work, with his books like Los años extraordinarios/The Extraordinary Years, or Cuentos telúricos/Earthly Tales being instant classics, he doesn’t quite resonate with the audience in his playing field. Since Buried, the great 2010 box office hit that won every possible award, he has been stumbling one after another, despite working with figures like Uma Thurman, Cillian Murphy, and Robert DeNiro. And, unfortunately, Escape is no exception.

Nobody cares about this guy

Practically the first thing we see in Escape, which premiered at the San Sebastián Film Festival, is a large sign that says “Martin Scorsese presents,” and it’s not hard to imagine why the filmmaker embarked as a producer on this crazy adventure. The script, like Rodrigo’s words when he speaks, is precise, profound, and entertaining. It seeks to convey a very clear thesis (“how far can society go to fulfill a child’s whims?”) and each new step it takes contributes to that thesis, but everything gets lost.

Escape tells the story of N. As its synopsis states, “he is a broken man, something is not right inside him.” N. does not want to make another decision, he just wants to get off the world. To stop having options. The psychologist he visits does not know how to approach him, nor does his sister, who tries to support him without success. N. only wants to live in prison, and he will do whatever it takes to achieve it. Will his loved ones be able to dissuade him from committing increasingly serious crimes? How far will the judge go to deny him his goal?

Undoubtedly, the premise couldn’t be more attractive, just like the first half hour of the feature film. Certainly, there is something hypnotic about watching Mario Casas doing everything possible to get into jail. But soon the movie falls apart, the thesis is lost, and the plot becomes repetitive and tedious. There comes a point where we can do nothing but be disgusted by this character’s ideas, and although this is what the director aims for, it doesn’t exactly help the film.

And it’s a shame. Because, when it sets out to be funny, Escape is a very good comedy. When it tries to be reflective, it undoubtedly succeeds. But in its mix of ideas, worlds, and characters, Rodrigo Cortés loses perspective and the audience at the same time.

By the way, Escape premieres in theaters on October 31.

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