Inescapable would be more accurately titled Inexplicable or Improbable. It’s a tale that borrows the gist of Taken, just without the pure and mindless action component. If there were a highbrow version of the Liam Neeson revenge movie, I suppose this tries to be it.
In the beginning, we meet Adib in his office building. His occupation is virtually unknown, but he wears a suit, and he’s happy to pick a filing cabinet lock to aid an administrative assistant, chalking his skills up to “misspent youth.” This reminder is present throughout Inescapable: Adib (Alexander Siddig) has a past. His past is darker than ours. Each new person he meets poses some variation on the question “Have you told your family about your past?” This constant ominousness often made me wonder whether he should tell his family about his past. The details are simple to piece together: he was a former Lieutenant in the Syrian Army – enough said. He was clearly involved in killings, torture, or interrogation. We got it. Let’s move on.
But the movie doesn’t. Rather, it is often torn between keeping us curious about his rather transparent past and being occasionally reminded of his missing daughter.
Adib’s daughter, Muna, was on assignment as a photojournalist in Greece. Suddenly feeling curious about where his father grew up, she heads to Demascus and goes missing. We’re informed of this as Adib is, but this plot point reads as an easy vehicle to draw Adib back to Syria. It’s as if the daughter’s disappearance is a throw in, offered only to provide an occasional vocal or physical outburst to the main character.
The murkiness of the narrative aside, Inescapable and Muna’s plight don’t necessarily make sense. I understand that she was kidnapped. This is instant, heartrending conflict in most cases. At the same time, how in the hell did she get to Syria?
In 2011 when the movie was set, Syria, particularly Demascus, was on the fringe of a major civil war that is still going on now. The majority of flights to Syria were cancelled; the US Embassy (as well as many others) advised that all travel to Syria by Americans cease; those in Syria were advised to evacuate. The border between Turkey and Syria was (and still is) very volatile, so crossing it became equally as improbable, unlikely, and dangerous. The sanctions placed on Syria by the UAE also made is an unappealing and highly dangerous area.
So, how did she get there? Given the circumstances, it was unlikely she was able to board a plane from Greece and land in Demascus. The slim number of flights coupled with her Canadian passport, would most likely prevent her from being allowed on the plane, given that travel was mostly restricted to business, not pleasure. Traveling from Greece to Turkey and then to Syria would have been improbable 1) given the time frame that the film offers, it would have taken much longer to get to Demascus 2) again, her passport would have made it difficult for her to cross the border.
Regardless, the wacky history that the film occupies is only part of what dooms Inescapable. Overall, it’s doomed by its own disinterest. It wants so bad for us to see Adib as a man who found new roots in Canada, and we kind of do, but it feels fake. His accent is washed away; he speaks in corporate jargon. But just as quickly as these tidbits are forced on us, they dissipate and we constantly hear references to his past – many from his former lover, Fatima (Marissa Tomei), presumably the only person in all of Syria that could help him.
For a man who was previously so connected, he finds himself alone, and, about forty minutes in, we too want to leave him.