✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Canada, United States · 2021
1h 30m
Director Charles Officer
Starring Saul Williams, Thamela Mpumlwana, Donisha Rita Claire Prendergast, Ronnie Rowe
Genre Crime, Drama, Thriller
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When a routine deal goes bad, a drug trader tries to set things right while unexpected circumstances force him to confront his traumatic origins.
Akilla’s Escape offers few answers when it comes to ending the generational traumas its characters carry, but the unique force with which it expresses the life-altering weight of such burdens meaningfully moves the conversation around them forward.
Williams’ effortless, near-otherworldly presence gives Akilla’s Escape all the grace and mystique it requires; the film strains a little too hard for its own.
Given the accelerated pace of a 90-minute movie whose main narrative happens in one night, Williams gives a powerfully controlled performance, creating a character whose awareness level is high.
The Hollywood Reporter by John DeFore
A mature crime picture whose decades-hopping action makes the effects of generational poverty obvious without having to spell it out, it lacks some of the flash expected in commercial genre pictures, but makes up for that in seriousness.
Los Angeles Times by Michael Rechtshaffen
Although the constant shifts between contemporary Toronto and ‘90s New York can at times cause confusion, the film remains firmly rooted in Williams’ quietly powerful, laser-focused performance.
RogerEbert.com by Odie Henderson
Akilla’s Escape is undone by its own lack of faith in the viewer, opting to explicitly tell rather than rely on its fine actors to show us who their characters are.
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