In a world full of injustice, escaping shackles often seems futile. However one must never lose the urge to transgress them.
Escape is the story of Eliza Mason. It is about her attempt to escape prison. She must flee the stranglehold of the dungeon in order to prove that she had no role to play in the murder of her brother, Robert Mason.
She was initially detained as the prime suspect behind the murder of her brother. She is asked a number of questions in haste and she tries her best to answer them. Obviously, the police department is not satisfied with her answers as it is evident that they have made up their minds about Eliza being the murderer. The inquiry that follows is a facade, a significant part of the cheap antics displayed by the police department, ironically an institution in pursuit of justice.
The movie reminds one of Robert Bresson’s minimalist classic, A Man Escaped.
The concept of Escape takes one to the paradigm of hopelessness. A place where there is no place for truth. A world is full of falsity and deceit.
The department of justice act as an abettor of crime. It is evident that they are trying to protect someone. Someone more powerful than the hapless and dejected Eliza Mason. The movie would also remind one of Heinrich Boll’s novel, The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum.
The movie impeccably depicts the relentless play of power and corruption.
The coverups become evident later on through the altercation between Eliza and her lawyer Claire Linwood.
The initial scene displays footage of an interrogation where Eliza Mason is asked a number of questions by an unknown voice. Later on, people are asked if they believe Eliza Mason killed her brother. The scene is indicative of public perception shaping a judgment.
The movie also depicts the trait of a post-truth world. A world where occurrences turn true or false on the basis of public perception.
The manipulation of truth results in the entrapment of the innocent, the clueless, and the marginalized.
There however remains one good person at the very least who acts as Eliza’s guardian angel. Claire becomes her savior in a world of deception, machinations, and vengeance. She makes Eliza realize the weight of her wings once again, so she could fly in a world full of hunters ready to fetch the birds out of the sky.
Eliza Mason chooses to fight the corrupt forces and strive for the justice of her brother, Robert Mason. She decides to find the answers for herself. It is also evident that she would not have much glee left in her life, for she will be on the run for quite a long time. The world, thanks to the media and a corrupt police department, had already made a villain out of Eliza. There shall remain very little to be redeemed for her. However, it is also clear that she would fight for every bit. She would not surrender to evil forces trying to bring her down in every way possible.
