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It’s been said that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And in the moving crime drama Akilla’s Escape, one man is faced with memories of his past—of a continuing cycle of violence—but he’s determined to break the cycle.
Akilla’s Escape stars Saul Williams as Akilla Brown, the owner of a successful underground cannabis farm in Toronto. But the business is changing now that his product is legal, and he’s ready to get out. As he’s making a delivery one night, he interrupts the robbery of a dispensary, and he manages to capture one of the young thieves. As he works to recover what’s been stolen, he finds that this gang of kids is working with a Jamaican gang that his grandfather started years ago, and it brings back memories of a violent childhood that he thought he’d left behind.
Following the robbery, two similar and equally captivating stories play out: the story of modern-day Akilla confronting these young criminals and the story of young Akilla facing his own world of violence and crime. And as he looks back at his own upbringing, the violence that he witnessed, and the life that he was expected to live, it makes him want something different for these kids—just like he once wanted something different for himself.
Williams’s Akilla is a strong, trustworthy character. He may run a (formerly) illegal business, but it’s clear that he’s the kind of guy that you’d want to work with. And when he encounters this frightened young boy at the scene of the robbery—this boy who clearly doesn’t belong there—it brings back memories of his own teenage years. Though this young Akilla was raised to be tough—to work the streets, just like his father—he just wanted to protect himself and those he loved.
There’s a lot at play in the background of this film—and unless you know about the political conflicts and the violence battles fought by the Jamaican people, you may not understand some of the history behind the characters and their actions. Admittedly, the story isn’t always easy to follow—and the characters’ accents do sometimes make it even harder. But even with a basic understanding of what’s going on, it’s still a powerful story about breaking this vicious cycle.
More than just another movie about tough guys fighting each other on the streets, Akilla’s Escape tells a moving and challenging story about a character who fought to escape violence—and to help others, too. It’s a captivating and meaningful crime drama.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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