Scott Ashwood wrote and directed. Escape and Evasion is an Australian film about a lone soldier who returns home with chronic PTSD and is attempting to get his life back on track.
Seth (Josh McConville) has returned to Queensland after all of his soldiers were slain in Burma. Seth’s PTSD makes it difficult for him to function with a normal existence, and he is constantly reminded of what he has gone through, causing him to experience terrifying hallucinations that plunge him into panic. It doesn’t help that Rebecca, an investigative journalist and the sister of one of the men slain, is attempting to extract as much information about her brother’s death as possible from Seth in order to find closure. Seth is understandably apprehensive to relive the terrible memories, since his mental health difficulties interfere with his connection with his daughter.
While Escape and Evasion isn’t very revolutionary, the sequences demonstrating PTSD are quite poignant. For example, when Seth is reminded of something that happened in Burma, his distress is expressed by his hands shaking and, finally, Seth breaking down in tears. More visual instances and portrayals of Seth’s PTSD are shown when he believes his bed is made of muck or his hands are covered in blood. I thought the imagery was clever and original for a film of this kind. The film’s powerful message raises awareness about PTSD and what people might go through when they have it.
The filming sites for the battle sequences look excellent and help to create the film’s somber tone, since there is a lot of rain and muck in the jungle, which matches the mud seen in Seth’s hallucinations. The costume and props designers did an excellent job of paying attention to detail in the design of the troop outfits, and their weaponry were realistically authentic.
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Public Review: –
DAVID:
The exact circumstances of the mission and Boldi’s position as an insane mercenary remain unclear, yet despite these problems, the film has other positives. The rainforest sequences, shot in Queensland, are well-staged and truly scary, and McConville delivers an amazing performance.
Watched by Jay 12 Aug 2024
At times, the picture succeeds, while at others it struggles. I think the at-home scenes work quite nicely. The action is really B-movie quality. Josh McConville does an excellent job as the lead.
Watched by moobs 26 Dec 2021
Jesus Christ, this was a slog. I assumed I’d be assigned a dumb man shoot ’em up. Instead, I get a very, very terrible rip-off of Apocalypse Now mixed with that god awful propaganda piece Lone Survivor with a splash of Jarhead.
Someone needs to put me in charge of assessing what receives public funds, since I would have passed on this.
If I were to give it any credit, I was blown away by how this writer-director managed to fit so many of their favorite war films into two hours. And how muddled it all became. This film is the equivalent of a 15-year-old’s perception of war.
