Escape from Pretoria


Escape from Pretoria is a 2020 thriller film co-written and directed by Francis Annan, based on the real-life prison escape by three political prisoners in South Africa in 1979, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Daniel Webber. It is based on the 2003 book Inside Out: Escape from Pretoria Prison by Tim Jenkin, one of the escapees.
It was filmed in Adelaide, South Australia, in early 2019, both on location in the city and suburbs and in the Glenside studios of the South Australian Film Corporation.

Plot

Based on a book by one of the escapees, Jenkin, Inside Out: Escape from Pretoria Prison, the film tells the true-life story of political prisoners Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee, two white South Africans who, along with other prisoners, hatched a plot to break out of Pretoria Central Prison in 1979 after being imprisoned on charges of "producing and distributing 18 different pamphlets on behalf of banned organisations" during the apartheid era in South Africa.
Some of the other political prisoners, including Denis Goldberg, helped to create and refine the details of the planned escape.

Cast

The film was written and directed by Francis Annan. The film is an Australia-UK co-production, co-financed by Arclight Films, New York-based Magna Entertainment and with the assistance of the South Australian Film Corporation. Sam Neill was originally cast as Goldberg, in May 2017.
Filming commenced on location in Adelaide, South Australia in March 2019, with some scenes being shot at Mitcham railway station and others in the centre of the city, in Pirie Street. Jenkin spent some time in Adelaide, advising Radcliffe on accent and other aspects of the film, as well as playing as an extra, playing a prisoner next to Radcliffe in the visiting room.

Release

Escape from Pretoria was released on 6 March 2020 in the United Kingdom by Signature Entertainment and in the United States by eOne and Momentum Pictures. It was released for rental on digital platforms iTunes, Sky Store, Amazon and Virgin on the same date, and has had a limited cinema release in the UK, US and some other countries. The film is available to buy digitally and on DVD and Blu-ray from 20 April 2020.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 68% based on 38 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Escape from Pretoria doesn't quite do justice to the fact-based story it's dramatizing, but that lack of depth is offset by suitably gripping jailbreak action." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".