Ontsnapping 2015 Okru | The Escape Aka De

Upon its release in 2015 at the Netherlands Film Festival, "De Ontsnapping" received mixed-to-positive reviews. Critics praised Kim van Kooten’s performance (earning her a Golden Calf nomination, the Dutch equivalent of an Oscar), but some were divided on the film’s ambiguous ending.

Score: 7/10

De Ontsnapping is a compelling character study elevated by Sylvia Hoeks' magnetic performance. It is a film about the silence of depression and the terrifying freedom of losing everything. the escape aka de ontsnapping 2015 okru

Who is this for?

It is a somber, quiet film that lingers after the credits roll, asking the question: Is a perfect life worth living if you aren't the one living it? Upon its release in 2015 at the Netherlands

What makes The Escape remarkable is not the plot—which has shades of The Game (1997) mixed with the moral rot of Breaking Bad—but the pace of the decay.

Verheyen directs this like a horror film. Leo doesn't become a bad guy overnight. He becomes a bad guy because he is tired. He is tired of his wife looking at him with pity. He is tired of lying to his children about money. Kevin Janssens gives a masterclass in silent desperation. Watch his eyes in the scene where he realizes the virtual money is real. There is no joy. There is only a hollow, animal panic. He has escaped the trap of poverty, only to enter the trap of guilt. It is a somber, quiet film that lingers

Veerle Baetens as Anja is equally vital. For the first half of the film, she is the "nagging wife" archetype. But as Leo spirals, she transforms into the detective of her own marriage. She doesn’t scream or cry. She just starts noticing things. The way he flinches when she touches him. The second car key missing. The strange bruises.

The film argues that the greatest prison is not poverty, but intimacy. Leo can escape the police. He cannot escape the way Anja knows the rhythm of his breathing.