No Escape [2020] – Movie Review (3/5)

NO ESCAPE (2020) is a new horror-thriller starring Keegan Allen. It combines social media stars with escape room horror. Sounds good on paper and works pretty well on screen. However, you’ve seen it all before. Read our full No Escape review here!

NO ESCAPE (2020) is a new horror-thriller that delivers 88 minutes of entertainment. The concept is simple and while the executing does leave something to be desired, it works for the most part.

Most of the cast is famous from TV series and they all deliver solid performances. The issues I do have with this movie are all related to the storytelling, not the acting. 

Continue reading our No Escape review below.

A TV series ensemble cast

To be clear, I do not see TV series actors as somehow inferior. We are in a golden age of television and TV series in general. Many of my all-time favorite actors are in (or have been in) TV series. No Escape does have a very impressive TV series ensemble cast and all the actors are really good.

Heading the cast is Keegan Allen from Pretty Little Liars. He has a quirkiness to him that I’ve always liked and he really brings a lot of heart to this character. In fact, I loved that he wasn’t just some douchy social media star (that trope is already tired) but rather was very positive and happy.

As his girlfriend, we see Holland Roden of Teen Wolf and Channel Zero with Denzel Whitaker from The Purge series as his childhood best friend. Rounding out the group of friends are George Janko (NCIS: Los Angeles), and Siya (The First Purge).

Ronen Rubinstein from 9-1-1: Lone Star plays an extremely wealthy Russian who plans the crazy Escape Room experience for Cole (Keegan Allen) and his friends. And Emilia Ares (The Dark Tapes, American Horror Story) is his girlfriend.

The Escape Room ending

The ending of Escape Room (2020) is one that might surprise some while others will have guessed most (or all) plot twists in advance. While I certainly enjoy a good plot twist, it came as no surprise to me.

Then again, watching so many movies in the horror and thriller genres might just have made me a bit jaded. I feel like I’d seen it all before and the Escape Room ending certainly did not bring anything new to the table.

However, that being said, the actors (especially Keegan Allen) definitely managed to get the most out of it!

Yes, No Escape is worth the time

Will Wernick is the writer and director of No Escape (2020) and yes, I do have to note the “2020” part since more movies have this title. Just five years ago, in 2015, an action-thriller with the same title was released. It starred Lake Bell, Owen Wilson, and Pierce Brosnan. And it was surprisingly good, so do check that out!

It almost seems like a trademark of Will Wernick to have movie titles used by others. In 2017, he released Escape Room only to see Adam Robitel release a movie with the same title in 2019. And while I did enjoy Will Wernick’s Escape Room, Adam Robitel’s movie was the bigger hit and will have a sequel.

You might like: Our review of Will Wernick’s Escape Room from 2017 here >

While I’m not overly impressed by No Escape, I did enjoy watching this movie. I like the escape room scenes and enjoyed the friendships portrayed. Also, the social media element worked well for me.

The only thing that didn’t work so well was making it believable. This is a horror-thriller and so I can excuse some things, but I felt like I was expected to accept too many unbelievable plot points. Still, I won’t deny that it has entertainment value and will satisfy the horror needs of many, so do check it out!

Vertical Entertainment will release the horror/thriller NO ESCAPE on Digital and On Demand on September 18, 2020.

Details

Director: Will Wernick
Writer: Will Wernick
Stars: Keegan Allen, Holland Roden, Denzel Whitaker, Ronen Rubinstein, Kimberly Quinn, Pasha Lychnikoff, Siya