Escaping Freedom

I highly recommend this epic and thought-provoking story about estranged siblings that happens to take place in Portland, OR where I live.! The brother and sister happen to reunite as adults, each at pinnacle moments in their journeys of self-discovery working through issues of sexuality, identity, ethics, substance use, and so much more. From the surface, it seems like their paths and struggles are completely opposing--but, really there is more similarity than they are both willing to admit.

This movie had me thinking about my own vision of what it means to be "free", successful, or happy. It had me questioning the ways in which I might not be honest with myself in the pursuit of those ideals.

Kinda heavy 🙂, but it also had some really sweet moments of humor and the acting and synergy between the siblings is fabulous!

Escaping Freedom Micro Review -

Escaping Freedom is an intimate exploration of the contrasting masks people wear within society. Writer Director Edd Blott weaves an emotionally complex tale of two foster siblings (portrayed by Patrick D. Green, Kelly Godell) who reunite after a time of being estranged. Each is the others confident but also their foil as they come to terms with who they are.

Both Vincent and Krystal struggle with their self-identity and have chosen vastly different paths for their lives. The magic of Escaping Freedom is in the interwoven conflict of these two juxtaposed protagonists. Each character plays off the other's strengths and flaws towards personal discovery which feels very personal to the Director.

While Escaping Freedom deals with difficult themes, due to its wonderful rhythm to its pacing, the film feels like a brisk ninety-minute watch rather than its 2 hour and 20-minute runtime. This is because of Green and Godell's complex performances and Blott's choices. Specifically, the scenes between Vincent and Krystal just talking through their past are a standout. Escaping Freedom is a wonderful piece of artistic cinema.

Edd Blott has nailed the experience one goes through as a leader in the American evangelical church who begins doubting the faith.

I'm an atheist who was once an evangelical Christian training to be a pastor. And even though I haven't dealt personally with the LGBTIQ+ side of the main character's story, I still felt like scene by scene this movie was retelling my own experience of doubting while a leader in the church.

The acting was top notch and the soundtrack and awkward silences only added to the emotion that emanated from every scene.

If you have experienced life in the church and either left or have gone through a time of serious doubts, this film will resonate deeply with you.

Highly recommended!!!

The brother and sister have very good believable chemistry and their scenes together are so raw and felt so real. I would easily watch the two leads in other movies. The dream sequences seem like fluff pieces... i wasnt big on them and i feel like they could of been changed to something else to show the brother and sisters inner turmoil. I have never seen a movie where the sister character is so comfortable being naked about her brother... he is comfortable with her in those scenes too and i think the movie has those scenes to show the vulnerability of her especially and he is comforting to her in those scenes.

I don't know what movie all these ten star reviewers were watching, but it wasn't the same one I saw. I don't know that I have EVER seen a gay movie longer than two hours, but this was not the one that needed to break that barrier. All those overlaid dream shots could definitely have been cut. Nothing really happens in the movie until the last half hour. I know that some movies like to marinate in the emotions of the main characters instead of having lots of plot, but let's save that approach for the pros. They could have cut plenty of BS from the sister's screen time, had less "atmospheric" scenes, and amped up the role of the associate pastor character. In fact the story didn't even get interesting till the last few moments of the film... the story could have gone in a very interesting direction after that point so too bad it wasn't the halfway point of the runtime... oh well.