Escape [Flukt] (2012) Review
Norway in 1363 was not the nicest place to be. Although the Black Plague had ended the everyday struggle for survival faced by poverty stricken famished families had them trekking miles across harsh barren lands in search of food and shelter. And if hunger or disease didn’t get them then the heatless heathen bands of bandits probably would.
This is the stark reality laid out in Escape for Signe (Isabel Christine Andreasen) who in the opening act of this ancient Norwegian action thriller witnesses her entire family slaughtered by the vicious Dagmar (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) and her gang of thugs.
Abducting Signe alive to be used to breed a baby sister for Dagmar’s daughter Frigg (Milla Olin) you young girl faces a future filled with torment and torture as the play thing for the men under Dagmar’s command.
When she meets Frigg to her surprise she discovers the little girl is not Dagmar’s child but a captive also and together they manage to run away. However the killers are close at hand and the devious and driven Dagmar will not let anything stand in her way to get back her young charge and kill the older girl as punishment for the escape.
Made by the director of the critically acclaimed Cold Prey, Roar Uthaug the film reunites him with Ingrid Bolsø Berdal who dominates Escape as Dagmar with her impressive presence and complex character.
Although at first coming across as simply a wicked women in charge of a band of blood thirsty brothers we soon discover there is more to her than we first thought as her troubled past is revealed and the terrible actions which drove her to become such a violent and hate filled harpy make her almost likable, that is if she wasn’t so intent on killing everyone who got in her way.
The rest of the cast are also excellent especially the two child actresses and the stunning landscape which is a character in itself looks starkly spectacular as the young girls run through varying trap filled terrains set by humans and mother nature alike in an attempt to evade the ever advancing evil that is upon them.
Sword swinging, arrow piercing action combined with tense and suspense filled scenes Escape is an action chase thriller perfect for fans of Game of Thrones and the like looking for a fix of medieval mayhem.
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