Fantastic Fest 2024: ‘Escape From The 21rst Century’
by Tito W. James
“In Escape From the 21rst Century, three friends get the chance to sneeze themselves into their adult selves 20 years in the future, finding their lives haven’t worked out exactly as they’d expected. Faced with love triangles and dead-end jobs, the three must stop a world-ending plot headed by an arcade game-obsessed, world-class martial artist.”
Escape From the 21rst Century is undoubtedly the most insane film to ever come out of Korea. The visual stylization and animated combat sequences are evocative of Scott Pilgrim and Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. However, I think that comparing Escape From the 21rst Century to other genre-busting films is a disservice. The movie operates in its own parallel reality that has more in common with music videos than most live-action cinema. It makes no attempt to hide its artifice and instead fully embraces cartoon logic from start to finish.
Spectacular, satirical, stylish, and action-packed, Escape From the 21rst Century is going to be unpacked by filmmakers for years to come. While the film experiments with a multitude of formalist expressions, it never loses sight of the core character relationships that propel the story. I was genuinely moved by the time the credits rolled. This is a film worth going into cold and audiences should be on the lookout for when Escape From the 21rst Century sees a wide release.
