It took me a little longer than I would have liked to see Escape from Tomorrow. I knew it about for a while. I had chances to see it. Hell, it was on Netflix for a while. It enticed me by its guerrilla filmmaking and use of Disney property. However, it seemed like a movie that only existed for that purpose. There was nearly no way it could actually be a good movie, right? I expected to see some fragmented looks at Disney, that was all. Some weird camera work, making fun of the mouse, and that's it. But, to my total shock, Randy Moore, in his debut film, didn't just make a good film, but made a great one, despite its flaws.
Moore captures the hyperreality of Disney World that Jean Baudrillard discusses in Simulacra and Simulation. Disney World, Baudrillard argues, is a simulation of something that never existed- the perfect town in the perfect country where the perfect family can visit. This is key to understanding the complex hilarity of Escape from Tomorrow. Often, the film is incorrectly labeled as a horror movie. In fact, it's poster- Mickey's glove dripping blood- captures audiences and takes them on a totally unexpected ride. Jim, the film's struggling father, witnesses his world fall apart in Disney World, where his wife, children, and the Disney icons all seem to taunt him, and the entire world seems against him.
Clearly, much of the film isn't real.In fact, we don't know what is real, and what is a product of Jim's imagination. Although this is fairly common in film, even mainstream film today, Escape takes it to a deeper level, with only a few sequences in the film clearly being a part of the absolute reality. Escape can best be described as a David Lynch family vacation.
The film in't perfect, but what film is? Some things don't work, like the bizarre scene nearly an hour into the movie where strange science fiction elements are introduced and soon abandoned. Perhaps with better special effects the scene would be less goofy and out of place, but it serves its purpose and builds on the madness of Jim's world. The black and white digital photography is unexpectedly gorgeous and terrifying at the same. Because of it, we are constantly aware of the bizarre nature of the film. We aren't supposed to see Disney World in black and white. Disney World is color. Moore manipulates the park's surroundings, getting uncomfortably close and twisted with It's a Small World and superimposing naked women onto Soarin'.
Technically, the film is just stunning. Anyone who is vaguely familiar with Disney will be floored that they could shoot full length scenes. The film contains multiple scenes, with full scripted dialogue, on the rides. Escape could exist solely because of Moore's ballsy feet, but instead, the film is all-around well crafted.
Many criticize the films ending, claiming it makes no sense. However, when taking it with the hyperreality and the impossibility of a perfect existence- both for the world (or Disney World) and for Jim- the ending excels and ends the film on a perfect note. Although the final shot of the French teen fairies seems ridiculously out of place, given the somewhat grounded existence of the teen girls, it is forgiven after the excellent end sequence with Disney, or D(beep), hiding their park from the realities of life and seeming to create a perfect memory for the imperfect family. In many ways, Escape from Tomorrow just has to be seen to be believed, but it's more than the shock of the perversion of the brand. The film disassembles the magical fantasy of Disney, leaving behind the skeleton of a nightmare.
