Director: Storm Ashwood
Writer: Storm Ashwood (Screenplay)
Starring: Josh McConville, Rena Owen, Hugh Sheridan, Firass Dirani, Bonnie Sveen, Steve Le Marquid
Plot: After his men are killed in Burma. A lone soldier returns home in search of solace. Hiding a dark secret and confronted by an unrelenting journalist, he’s forced to face the ghosts of his past one last time.
Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Escape and Evasion starts when journalist Rebecca (Sveen) decides to go in search of answers, as to what happened to her brother Josh (Sheridan) in his time in Burma, where only one person returned, Seth (McConville), a troubled man, who is still suffering the nightmares of his time in the war.
As the two get to know each other, Seth slowly start to relive the final moments of his team in a battle they shouldn’t have been caught in the middle of, helping Rebecca get the closure she needs, as well as helping Seth himself fight his own demons.
Thoughts on Escape and Evasion
Characters – Seth was the lone survivor of his unit, this has left him broken back home in Australia, the one thing keeping him on the right path, is his daughter, his sunshine in a world of darkness. He suffers nightmares of his time, seeing the fallen soldiers in everyday life and struggling to handle his aggression. He gets a chance to finally exorcism his own demons when he meets Rebecca. Rebecca is the sister of one of the soldiers who was lost in war, Seth’s best friend, she wants to know the truth about what happened to her brother, which sees her getting close to Seth, letting him open up for the first time since his return. Josh was Seth’s best friend, the two served together for years and knew how to trust each, but he never returned after their latest outing.
Performances – Josh McConville does give us an excellent leading performance, showing the damaged caused by being involved in war, showing the inner conflict he is suffering through, being torn up by his time, but wanting to be the man he once was. Bonnie Sveen does bring the grieving sibling to life well through the film, with the rest of the cast doing everything they need to, to make us understand what happened to them.
Story – The story here follows a war veteran who was the lone survivor of his unit, he is torn up with what happened to him suffering nightmares, but when one of the siblings of his unit wants answers, he will need to confront the truth about what happened. When it comes to this story, we get to see the aftermath of war, when only one survivor returns, left being filled with nightmares of his time in conflict, struggling to get his life back on track. It is important to show us how difficult surviving war can be, how it will have made people do things they should never have had to do and how difficult the recovery process will in fact be.
War – The film shows us how one person surviving war will leave them broken, while showing us what happened during his time, will focus more on the basic conflict of losing people.
Settings – The film uses the settings to show us where Seth is in life now, struggling to hold things together in life, with dreams of a better life, along with the moments during the war.
Scene of the Movie – The light at the end of the tunnel.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We don’t see the help Seth gets to improve.
Final Thoughts – This is an important drama that puts a highlight on just how difficult post-war can be on a soldier that is left to fend for himself.
Escape And Evasion will be released on Digital Download from September 28 and on DVD from October 26, both can be pre-ordered now:
