Escape From Tomorrow (2013)

September 12, 2018

Directed by: Randy Moore

Written by: Randy Moore

Starring: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez

Budget: $650,000

Tagline: Bad things happen everywhere.

Trivia: Filmed at Disneyland and Disney World without permission. Shot guerrilla style using 2 Canon EOS 5D Mark II cameras and 1 Canon EOS 1D Mark IV digital single-lens reflex camera, and shot in monochrome mode, filmmakers had to figure out weeks in advance where the sun would be.



First and foremost the fact that this film was made is both incredibly creative and brave. The majority of the movie is shot at Disneyland and Disney World without Disney's knowledge or permission. If anyone is familiar with The Disney Corporation, one knows how litigious they are about their intellectual property. I am frankly amazed that Disney did not sue the filmmakers. For their part, the filmmakers did everything in their power to avoid lawsuits: cutting out any songs, videos or images that could infringe on Disney's copyrights. They had the film's post production completed in South Korea to avoid Disney's watchful eye. They had the movie pulled from an early film festival and even contacted law school professors to see if Disney had a legal leg to stand on. Also, just the logistics of creating the film are incredibly impressive. They had to use cameras similar to what any tourist would have, scripts were held on iPhones, and the direction of the sun had to be calculated weeks in advance. The film is a legal and logistical miracle. But what is probably even more important is that it is a damn good film.

The movie follows a family of four and begins with the father getting fired over a phone call at the beginning of his family's last day at Disney World. The father chooses to keep this information to himself instead of ruining his family's trip. Throughout the day, the father tries to force himself and his family to have a good time while following two young French girls (they seemed about fourteen or fifteen) and experiencing bizarre visions and events.

There are brief hints at the father's emotional and psychological instability earlier in the film when the mother asks if he is blacking out again. The first strangeness begins on It's A Small World. After trying way too hard to makeout (or have sex with) his wife on the ride (his kids are sitting right in front of him) he begins to have visions of evil faces on the animatronics. The hallucinations increase until at one point he wakes up to himself having sex with a woman while his daughter and her son wait in another room. The hallucinations finally culminate in his capture by a mad scientist at Epcot who reveals that he has been part of a science experiment since he was a child. What is real? What is hallucination? What is paranoia?

In the midst of the father's increasing madness, the father is obsessed with and following the tow creepily young French girls. He follows them to ride after ride after ride until even his son asks him "Why are we following those girls?" When the girls go on Space Mountain, he forces his son on the ride causing him to vomit. Later he begins looking at a French phrase book and finally daydreams about being with them. It is exceedingly creepy. Eventually the girl gets upset with him and spits in his face when he tells her he can't go with her. Did this happen? Afterwards he gets shit-housed drunk and throws up while on a ride at Epcot.

The movie ends with the father dying from cat flu which causes blood vomiting and hairballs. This is based on the Disney trivia that their are numerous stray cats that live at Disneyland and a reference to the natural enemy mice (and therefore Mickey Mouse).

The movie takes a dark surreal look at Disneyland as a American cultural icon. Through the madness of the father we are offered a look at the dirty underbelly of this cultural institution. The park itself is a fantasy that is meant to mask the parks of ourselves and the world that we don't want to recognize. But like a drug, the park doesn't fix problems but instead distracts us from them. Looking at the fantasy through the lens of another fantasy creates for a fascinating view. The park is both a heaven and a hell where reality and imagination blur together. Where familial bliss can be purchased and brought to you by corporate sponsors.