''The Escape'' is a 2016 American

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

produced by BMW to promote the car manufacturer's 2017 5 Series. It was directed and co-written by

Neill Blomkamp Neill Blomkamp (; born 17 September 1979) is a South African filmmaker. He employs a documentary-style, Hand-held camera, hand-held, cinéma vérité technique, blending naturalistic and photo-realistic computer-generated imagery, computer-gene ...

, and stars

Clive Owen Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series '' Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film '' Close ...

Jon Bernthal Jonathan Edward Bernthal (; born September 20, 1976) is an American actor. Beginning his career in the early 2000s, he came to prominence for portraying Shane Walsh (The Walking Dead), Shane Walsh on the AMC (TV channel), AMC horror series ' ...

Dakota Fanning Hannah Dakota Fanning (born February 23, 1994) is an American actress. She rose to prominence at the age of seven for her performance as Lucy Dawson in the drama film ''I Am Sam'' (2001), for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomin ...

, and

Vera Farmiga Vera Ann Farmiga ( ; born August 6, 1973) is an American actress who is best known for portraying paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren in the Conjuring Universe films '' The Conjuring'' (2013), '' The Conjuring 2'' (2016), '' Annabelle Co ...

. The film, which continues the plot of BMW's series of adverts titled ''

The Hire The BMW film series ''The Hire'' is a series of eight short films (averaging about ten minutes each) produced for the Internet in 2001 and 2002. A form of branded content, the shorts were directed by popular filmmakers from around the globe and ...

'', was posted on BMW USA's

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channel on October 23, 2016. The short was filmed over the course of one-and-a-half months during summer of 2016 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. Visual effects were completed in September 2016, ready for release the following month.

Plot

After the disappearance of geneticist Dr. Nora Phillips and the exposure of the Molecular Genetics company's illegal activities in

human cloning Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy (or clone) of a human. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction of human cells and tissue. It does not refer to the natural concepti ...

, the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

raids the facility to arrest its key people. One surviving specimen, Lily, is escorted by a ruthless mercenary gunman named Holt to be delivered to an unnamed customer who bought the specimen. The Driver is hired to transport the package with Holt "babysitting" him, ordering the hired driver to evade the FBI forces. En route to delivering Lily, the Driver develops a strong dislike for Holt's violent and inhuman treatment of Lily as an object rather than a human being. The Driver kicks the mercenary out of the car by subduing him and holding him at gunpoint. Holt pursues the Driver and tries to stop the car with a sniper rifle via helicopter, but the Driver incapacitates Holt's comrades and leaves him in the middle of the road to be arrested by the FBI, after a long and intense chase. Eventually, the Driver delivers Lily to the extraction point where she informs him that Dr. Phillips created her and three others, who are now gone. She is surprised to learn that the customer is Dr. Phillips, who takes maternal custody of her.

Cast

as Driver *

as Holt *

as Lily *

as Dr. Nora Phillips * Mario Adrion as Tom

References

External links

''The Escape''
on

* 2016 short films 2016 science fiction action films 2010s chase films American chase films American science fiction short films American science fiction action films Anonymous Content films BMW Films about cloning Films directed by Neill Blomkamp Films shot in Toronto Sponsored films Promotional films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films {{short-film-stub