Science
fiction writer Robert Sheckley was never quite a household name, but he had good
success with movie sales. The diverse films based on his work include The 10th Victim starring Ursula
Andress, Freejack, and Disney’s Condorman. Over a decade after Sheckley’s
death, Paul Franklin adds another entry to the Sheckley filmography, adapting his story “The Store of the Worlds” as the
short film The Escape (trailer here), which screens as
part of the Shorts: Your Heart’s Desire program
at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival.
Kellan
is a dodgy back-alley scientist who has a tempting offer for miserable,
life-tossed souls like Lambert. For a fee, he can temporarily transport them to
one of the infinite alternate realities, where they can experience the life
they truly crave. In addition to the high financial cost, the process also
takes ten years off a customer’s life, so Lambert will have to think about it.
We
subsequently learn Lambert is a white-collar family man, with a slightly bossy
wife, a teen daughter, and a young son. He is under stress both at home and his
downsizing office, but his pompous boss genuinely seems to like him. However,
his desire for escape will make perfect sense in light of the big climatic
reveal.
Unlike
the campy 10th Victim and
cartoony Condorman, The Escape is actually a sentimental sf
fable, more in the spirit of Twilight
Zone episodes like “A Stop at Willoughby” and “Kick the Can,” but it does
have the occasion for some grand spectacle down the stretch. Indeed, The Escape is likely to attract
attention, because it is the directorial debut of Franklin, who supervised
special effects on several Christopher Nolan films, including the Dark Knight trilogy. Fans should not be
disappointed, but they might be slightly surprised by his sensitive character-driven
approach.
He
also assembles a pretty impressive cast for a short, including an appropriately
gaunt looking Julian Sands as Lambert, who really delivers the existential
angst when the time comes. Olivia Williams plays off the mopey Lambert rather
nicely as his forceful but loving wife, while Art Malik (from Jewel in the Crown and dozens of other
British shows) anchors it all with authority as Kellan.