A movie about a drug war (ugh) but Charles Officer co-wrote the film (with Wendy Motion Brathwaite) and directed the film. Sufficiently intrigued.
Akilla's Escape tells the story of Akilla is told of him as a somewhat older man (Saul Williams) trying to get out of the drug trade. The idea that they acknowledge a drug war while marijuana is legal in Canada will befuddle the potential U.S. audience.
We also see the story of young Akilla (Thamela Mpumlwana) with his mother (Oluniké Adeliyi) and his drug-dealing father (Ronnie Rowe Jr.).
The film starts out as a group of young people get a tip and rob Akilla's group of drugs. Akilla walks in what is happening. A series of events leads to one of the youths being left behind as the others escape or die.
Akilla's bosses want to torture Sheppard, the kid, but Akilla has other ideas. He runs into Sheppard's Aunt Faye (Donisha Rita Claire Prendergast) at the housing complex where they live.
The plan to get the drugs back involve Sheppard luring his people at a rendezvous.
You could watch the first part of Akilla's Escape and wonder if it's another drug war movie. We promise you it isn't but don't want to give away too much. The only clue, if that, is that Thamela Mpumlwana plays Sheppard and the young Akilla.
Williams is the cool centre in a sea of chaos. Takes a lot of effort to show that you don't have much effort involved. Mpumlwana has a realistic mix of tough and scared.
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The film also features brief performances from well-known Canadian actors such as Brandon Oakes, Colm Feore, and Jennifer Podemski.
Williams does double duty in the film, producing the original score with Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack.
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Officer has done 2 other films we've seen: Nurse. Fighter. Boy. which felt like a documentary and Unarmed Verses, an actual documentary. Officer does a wonderful job at showing the human side of these communities in Toronto.
This is why I gave more of a benefit of the doubt to this film, which rewarded me once you get to the end.
Once you get where the movie is going, you want to see it to the end, a goal I didn't have in the first 20 minutes.
Akilla's Escape is being paired with Black Bodies, the Kelly Fyffe-Marshall short film. Prendergast is in both films.
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Akilla's Escape debuted at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. The film has 8 Canadian Screen Awards nominations. Charles Officer and Wendy Motion Brathwaite won for Best Original Screenplay. Akilla's Escape also won for cinematography, sound editing, sound mixing, and casting. Williams was nominated for best actor while Mpumlwana and Rowe were nominated for supporting actor.
Akilla's Escape is available in the United States on Amazon Prime Video. The film is part of the Telefilm Canada 99¢ rental for the week of May 17.
video credit: YouTube/Vertical Entertainment
photo credit: Akilla's Escape film
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