The Escapist
IFC Films | Release Date: April 3, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
2
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Film ThreatMark Bell
On top of the tried-and-true prison genre formula coupled with the misfit gang formula, Rupert Wyatt's "he Escapist flips everything on its ear by playing out in two timelines simultaneously. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJean Oppenheimer
A taut thriller that ends on a note of unexpected grace. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Hollywood used to make a fair number of films like The Escapist (sigh: remember grown-up dramas?), and it's a satisfying variation on a once-familiar theme. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
Shapes a standard prison-break drama into a metaphysical study of freedom and reparation. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert Abele
It makes for an unexpectedly welcome form of dramatic escape: the character study breaking free from a hoary old movie genre. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterStephen Farber
All of this mayhem keeps us watching, but it would be hard to describe the experience as pleasurable. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
The splintered viewpoints help with the monotony, but from the taunting of new inmates to the cell-block sadist, we've gone through all this before, right down to the final twists. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle Smith
It all leads nowhere. There are pull-the-rug-out endings, and then there are pull-the-floor-out endings. The Escapist leaves you standing on nothing, like Wile E. Coyote, wondering why you bothered to come this far. Read full review
30
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
All might have been forgiven were it not for a needlessly Shyamalanized ending that deserves to earn Wyatt at least 25 years for grand-theft cinema. Read full review
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