There was a cracking film in the 90s called No Escape, starring Ray Liota. This is the description from IMDB:
A soldier convicted for murdering his commanding officer is dumped and left to die on a prison island inhabited by two camps of convicts.
What a great plot. Unfortunately the new film called No Escape is not a remake, and features no prison islands. But it does have the same tension and claustrophobia, and of course difficulty of escaping. This is no surprise, given that it's directed by John Erick Dowdle, who seems to specialise in horror in confined spaces. His last three films were about: demons in the catacombs under Paris (So Above, So Below); getting stuck in a lift with Satan (Devil); and a film crew trapped in a building with a zombie apocalypse outside (Quarantine).
Although there are no supernatural elements in No Escape, it still feels like a horror film. But this is horror for adults, where the greatest fears are losing control of the situation, and losing your children. Owen Wilson and his wife and two small girls are off to live in some un-named Asian country (Cambodia?) because of his job for a shady multinational company. Once they arrive things don't seem quite right, the TV and internet don't work and there's no newspapers. At first they casually put this down to it being "Just Asia" before things escalate rapidly, and soon they're in the middle of it desperately trying to get out.
The film nicely captures the fear of being in a foreign land. They can't speak the language. They don't know where anything is. They stand out everywhere they go, particularly Owen Wilson with his floppy blond hair. And there's hordes of machete-wielding locals after their blood.
Pierce Brosnan plays the veteran tourist, who helps out the naive family. It's a good role for him and I'm not sure if it's deliberate but I like his wandering accent. He's a well-travelled man. There's one point where he delivers a political speech and attempts to reverse our sympathies, but it doesn't work too well, as the movie is shot almost like a zombie film, with hordes of nameless baddies.
It also plays with a few of the classic moments in thrillers, such as when the youngest daughter drops her favourite toy and wants to go back, and when Owen drops his map and we think he's lost. The tension really gets cranked up, so much so that for the last 30 minutes I was sitting on my hands and didn't realise they'd become completely numb. The first invasion of the hotel and the rooftop scene are particularly good. Owen Wilson is believable as the reluctant hero; he's scared himself but has to keep his family moving. His wife is a bit annoying in panicking under pressure, but I suppose that's her role. At least the little girls are quite stoic, including quietly peeing themselves when they are hiding to avoid having to break cover.
Overall, this is a solid thriller, with some very thrilling moments.
