Variety
Gemma Arterton's strong but shattered performance as a disconnected housewife bolsters Dominic Savage's thoughtful marital drama.
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The Escape (2017)
Gemma Arterton (The Voices) is a withdrawn housewife who abandons her family in this British drama written and directed by Dominic Savage (Love + Hate).
"As she suffocates in her domestic role, Tara (Gemma Arterton) spends her days carting her kids around to school and the park and prepping meals ... The occasional date night and routine, impersonal Saturday-morning sex with her husband are no longer enough to compensate for insensitive comments about laundry piling up or all the spilt orange juice. Always the disciplinarian and never the playmate, Tara doesn't have the luxury of showing her children affection. It's clear that she does love them, but she's also aware that if she doesn't learn to love herself, she may never be able to escape from the cycle of unhappiness that swirls around her." (Toronto International Film Festival)
Less2017Rating: M, Sex scenes and coarse language101 minsUK
DramaFestival & Independent
- Director:
- Dominic Savage ('Love + Hate')
- Writer:
- Dominic Savage
- Cast:
- Gemma ArtertonDominic CooperFrances BarberMarthe KellerMontserrat LombardJalil Lespert
The Escape (2017) | Reviews
The New York Times
Subtle and slow and wrenchingly empathetic, "The Escape" is about gradually realizing that the life you have may not be the one you want.
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Stuff
Arterton in particular is a revelation, delivering a finely nuanced, yet powerhouse performance that deserves to be seen by as wide an audience as possible.
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Screen Daily
There are no audience-appeasing neat happy endings, just raw emotional wounds and aching compromises. But, despite a low key approach, this is a compelling, sometimes wrenching drama.
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Los Angeles Times
Although its title might imply some intrepid action movie, writer-director Dominic Savage's intimate, deeply emotional drama "The Escape" proves, in its own way, just as daring and harrowing an experience.
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