Review by Quin
I feel like I have been waiting my whole life to see this movie. I grew up about an hour away from Disneyland. From about the age of 4 until I was 12, my family would spend the day there at least once a year. This was just enough time to not get sick of it or take it for granted, as well as enough time to become completely obsessed with the place. Even as a very small child, I wasn’t overly interested in Disney films, but Disneyland was a completely magical place where dreams came true. Even now, as an adult in my 30s, I go back once in a while and I can still get that same feeling I had there as a kid – innocence, wonder, hope – not necessarily the ingredients of magic and dreams, but the older and more cynical one gets, those things become much harder to find.
Escape From Tomorrow is where my childhood meets my love of horror films, and it does all of this at the happiest place on earth. The film was shot mostly between a combo of Disneyland in Anaheim, California and Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The really amazing thing about it is that it was filmed without the knowledge of anyone within the hierarchy of the Walt Disney Company. This is truly guerilla filmmaking at its finest, most daring and most technically impressive. Disney has some endlessly deep pockets and could have gone after the filmmakers with a vengeance, and while they certainly haven’t given the film their blessing, they’ve actually gone the route of the other extreme – they seem to be simply going on as if this film doesn’t even exist. Whether the Walt Disney Company wants to believe it or not, this film is out there. Anyone with a computer and about 4 dollars can rent it from any number of places around the internet.
Even though it was shot at two Disney theme parks, it takes place at the one in Orlando. Jim White and his family of four are just starting their vacation when Jim gets a call from work informing him that he’s been fired. In a split second following the phone call, he contemplates suicide and gets locked out of his hotel room by his young son. So begins Jim’s trip into madness at The Magic Kingdom. Any sane person would fly home immediately after losing their job, but Jim decides to not tell his family and continue their stay at the money sucking machine that is Disney World. The day starts with an awkward moment between Jim and his wife, and devolves into bizarre hallucinations and encounters with some very strange characters.
For a film like this, shot in a public place with real people as extras (whom I am guessing didn’t sign release forms) the black and white cinematography is beautiful. Shots must have been planned out ahead of time because they are executed brilliantly. This is one of those black and white films with really high contrast; the blacks are jet black and the whites are bright, while still maintaining a subtle grey scale. But the images are clear and easy on the eyes. It sometimes feels like a French New Wave film with a touch of Cinéma verité. The actors are all people I don’t recognize, but I did find out that the father is played by Roy Abramsohn who was in Creepshow 3. Oh, you didn’t see that? Yeah, me neither.
The acting is pretty solid and believable, but the acting is not the reason to enjoy this film. This film works on a surreal, nightmarish level that I would compare to Eraserhead or Begotten. But having said that, Escape From Tomorrow is easier to follow than Eraserhead and more entertaining and enjoyable to sit through than Begotten. In my notes, I wrote down that Escape From Tomorrow is the most fun I have ever had sitting at my computer, watching a movie. This may be slight hyperbole. But it’s exactly how I felt when I wrote it down. I loved it and can’t say enough good things about it. I can’t promise that you all will feel the same way. But I think I can confidently say that it is something different that is worth your time. If for no other reason, you can watch it as a symbolic way of sticking it to the Disney machine – but I sincerely hope viewers get more out of it than that.
Escape From Tomorrow is available in the US now via online platforms.