No Escape
Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: August 26, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
38
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
15
Negative:
11
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 25, 2015
No Escape is a throwback to an era when movies of this genre were defined by suspense and tension. Dowdle isn't interested in providing a safe harbor for those who want a comfortable way to spend two hours. His vision is edgy and exhausting and, for the most part, his execution breathes life into it, tossing a firecracker into the sleepy post-summer movie doldrums. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanAug 27, 2015
The actors do well, with Brosnan playing a kind of James Bond who has fallen into seediness and shady dealings. Bell carries her weight in the emotional scenes and the battles, and Wilson proves (as he occasionally has) that he can do more than be a laid-back comic foil. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaAug 26, 2015
A taut thriller about an American family touching down in an unnamed country just as a violent coup erupts, No Escape goes about its gut-churning business by playing (and preying) on our worst xenophobic tendencies. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle SmithAug 25, 2015
What keeps the movie nervy and kinetic is that, for a good hour, it never seems that Jack and family are anything but average people who somehow manage to survive one hellacious trial after another, even when it comes to having to kill another human being. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 25, 2015
There’s no denying director/co-writer John Erick Dowdle’s skill set for creating almost unbearably tense and quite twisted suspense pieces in which you’ll find yourself laughing at the sheer unapologetic insanity of it all. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinAug 25, 2015
It's hardly essential viewing, but No Escape is a tense, at times riveting action-thriller about innocents abroad. Supersize your popcorn, check your logic at the door and settle in for a pretty good ride. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerAug 28, 2015
This should all be risible except that Dowdle, who has worked in the horror genre, knows how to amp the action and keep the terror taut. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzAug 27, 2015
Bang, boom, bam. That’s about the size of things in No Escape, a movie banking on its admittedly first-rate action drowning out its political tone-deafness. Read full review
60
The New York TimesDaniel M. GoldAug 25, 2015
Directed breathlessly by John Erick Dowdle (“As Above/So Below”), the movie is filled with jittery shots from hand-held cameras, and hurtles along at a pace that is especially helpful in racing past the holes in the paper-thin plot. Read full review
60
Screen DailyKim NewmanAug 24, 2015
A Taken-style no-holds-barred family survival action film, with an inevitable side order of xenophobia undimmed by the indictment of faceless corporate chicanery. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianJeff BakerAug 25, 2015
No Escape is xenophobic claptrap of the highest order. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoAug 27, 2015
Strict plausibility isn’t necessary in these movies, and while No Escape doesn’t completely throw it out the window, it still inspires the occasional unintended giggle. Read full review
50
Boston GlobePeter KeoughAug 27, 2015
No Escape is a tense but utterly predictable exercise in Western xenophobic paranoia and guilt. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshAug 27, 2015
Unfortunately, No Escape can't stay 10 steps ahead of its misguided politics and overly dramatic storytelling and crumbles under its own preposterous climactic denouement. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Julia CooperAug 27, 2015
Whatever seeds of social justice and emotional nuance No Escape may be attempting to sow are undercut by the film’s melodramatic valorization of family values. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 27, 2015
Filmmakers John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle (“As Above, So Below,” “Quarantine”) serve up a horrific string of “Sophie’s Choice” situations, in between the breathless chases and brutal violence. Read full review
50
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlAug 25, 2015
No Escape, while cruel, is often uncommonly suspenseful. And by pitting its white leads against the citizen hordes of Southeast Asia, No Escape is also uncommonly honest about the fears and assumptions that fuel adventure fiction — here, the Other is not abstracted away to orcs or aliens. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonAug 24, 2015
No Escape is a pedestrian but modestly gripping nerve-jangler from writer-director John Erick Dowdle. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyAug 25, 2015
Despite its illegible chase scenes, awkward slow-motion shots, and fumbling attempts at political commentary, No Escape manages to be intermittently interesting, thanks to an off-beat supporting turn from Pierce Brosnan. Read full review
42
The PlaylistNick SchagerAug 24, 2015
A preposterous, monotonous action saga primarily notable for boasting a miscast lead and advancing a less-than-tolerant geopolitical fantasy. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternAug 27, 2015
I won’t make a case for No Escape being a good film; the first half is pretty good and the second half ranges from pretty bad to truly awful. Nor will I deny having enjoyed quite a bit of it as a zombie film, never mind that it’s supposed to be an international thriller with contemporary political significance. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierAug 25, 2015
There’s no fleeing the clunkiness in No Escape. Read full review
37
Washington PostStephanie MerryAug 26, 2015
Every Asian character is either a ruthless murderer or anonymous collateral damage. A lot of locals have to die, the film suggests, in order for one white family to survive. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovAug 26, 2015
For all its genuine thrill-ride gestalt, No Escape completely short-shrifts its Southeast Asian players. There’s exactly one Asian character of note, a Kenny Rogers-loving tuk-tuk driver (Boonthanakit). Everyone else is a nameless victim of the equally nameless mob. Read full review
30
VarietyJustin ChangAug 24, 2015
Grittily propulsive filmmaking and solid performances from Owen Wilson and Lake Bell aside, there’s no escaping the movie’s hand-wringing manipulations and pandering sense of privilege. Read full review
25
Entertainment WeeklyKevin P. SullivanAug 27, 2015
Even ignoring the racism — which is pretty much impossible — No Escape is a cliché-ridden, artless relic. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter TraversAug 27, 2015
This movie really moves. But a fleet of tanks couldn’t help the brothers Dowdle push past the plot holes in this rancid mess. Read full review
20
The TelegraphTim RobeySep 3, 2015
No Escape is a film you’d want to recoil from taking seriously, so it’s almost a relief that its bungled execution makes this actively impossible. Read full review
20
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriAug 29, 2015
It’s just plain offensive — and not all that well made, either. No Escape takes the casual xenophobia of something like Taken, crossbreeds it with something altogether more noxious, then asks us to kick back and enjoy the ride. We don’t. We can’t. And the ride isn’t that great to begin with. Read full review
20
Time OutJoshua RothkopfAug 24, 2015
No Escape takes pains to pause for some unconvincing speechifying about Western meddling abroad, but its showbiz racism gets an infuriating pass. Read full review
20
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeAug 24, 2015
Between the script and the superior editing by Elliot Greenberg (“Chronicle”), there’s an enormous amount of tension and thrills to be found here; unfortunately, they’re all in the service of a movie that’s reprehensible to the core. Read full review
12
RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiAug 26, 2015
Films don't get much dreggier than No Escape, a dreadful and creepily exploitative would-be thriller, low-grade trash that it is too silly and stupid to be as offensive as it frequently comes close to being throughout. Read full review
0
Slant MagazineJake ColeAug 25, 2015
The only way that this film could be any more racist is if the Dwyer family holed up with Lillian Gish and waited for the Klan to save them. Read full review
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