Geekscape’s Sundance 2013 Review: ‘Escape From Tomorrow’
This eerie and chilling comedy is shot in B&W and completely illegally at the Walt Disney World resort in Orlando, FL. While this may really affect distribution options, director Randy Moore and his movie are already the talk of Sundance, so who knows…maybe that was a very wise move. The film chronicles the final day in a family’s vacation in the Sunshine State at its biggest resort.
The monumental day starts with Dad, played beautifully by Roy Abramsohn, getting a call from his boss that he is being laid off for no particular reason. Not wanting to spoil the fun, Dad doesn’t tell his wife and two young kids, but is clearly immediately affected. The family takes the monorail from their hotel to the Magic Kingdom and engages in a day of surreal rides and amusements. By mid morning, Dad notices two barely legal French girls and becomes increasingly engrossed with them to the point where he starts following them. While the girls weave in and out of the narrative, a host of hallucinations, marriage issues, mistaken identities, scrapes and bruises, and general mayhem start shortly thereafter.
Having grown up in Florida, Moore was shaped by the “artificial fantasy” of such family entertainment amusement parks and still has issues with wanting to live in a world that doesn’t really exist. Through clever framing, good story telling, and a slight bit of VFX, Moore makes the actual Disney rides that the family takes feel really creepy and borderline horrific. This is particularly effective as many of us were on these rides many times and kids and didn’t have such an experience. But a horror film this is not, because by making Abramsohn’s character likeable and a inserting a bunch of funny one-liners, Moore keeps his social commentary firmly cemented as a dark comedy.
The team shot for 45 days on location and sunlight or practical fixtures is the lighting source for the majority of the film. Moore was very keen on avoiding making a “home movie” and even with the lighting and location restrictions, he and his DP, Lucas Lee Graham, made a cinematic film. The B&W greatly augments the picture as it offers both a layer of surreal and covers several of the technical issues that run and gun shooting creates. Personally, the B&W also offers homage to the zany horror films of the 1950s that feel referenced in some of wacky situations that the family encounters.
Ultimately, the film is more of a mainstream story than some of the ‘insane’ buzz it’s getting at the festival. However, after watching this film, you will look at any family amusement park differently on your next visit.
Cast and Credits
Director: Randy Moore
Screenwriter: Randy Moore
Producers: Soojin Chung, Gioia Marchese
Cinematographer: Lucas Lee Graham
Editor: Soojin Chung
Production Designers: Sean Kaysen, Lawrence Kim
Composer: Abel Korzeniowski
Sound Design: Paul André Fonarev, David Lankton
Principal Cast: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Annet Mahendru, Danielle Safady, Alison Lees-Taylor
Check out Anna’s other reviews from Sundance 2013 here!
