Escape from the 21st Century review – teenagers fast-forward to the future in barmy sci-fi
Three school friends discover their adult selves in this fast and flashy adventure debut from director Li Yang“When you grow up, your heart dies,” is a famous line of dialogue from The Breakfast Club. In this barmy coming-of-age sci-fi a trio of teenagers find out that adulthood really does suck after sneezing themselves 20 years into the future. The movie is a directed by young Chinese film-maker Li Yang on a maximalist scale; it’s noisy and flashy, like a John Hughes movie made for TikTok – every scene sped up or slowed down, stylised with a comic-book animation or pinging with gamer special effects.The year is 1999 on a planet that looks a lot like Earth (although days are only 12 hours long, so time really does move fast). Three 18-year-old school friends acquire the power to travel forward 20 years in time after falling into a lake polluted by toxic chemicals. High-school heartthrob Chengyong (Yang Song) is appalled to discover as an adult he has become a nasty thug involved in an organ trafficking racket. Zha (Ruoyun Zhang) grows up to be an investigative journalist hopelessly and miserably in love with a colleague who’s so badass she puts on ear plugs to fight: “I hate the sound of men screaming.” Only overweight bullied Pao Pao (Chenhao Li) is pleased with the future. His 38-year-old self is gym-sculpted and living with the most popular girl from high school – which is not without complications. Continue reading...
Three school friends discover their adult selves in this fast and flashy adventure debut from director Li Yang
“When you grow up, your heart dies,” is a famous line of dialogue from The Breakfast Club. In this barmy coming-of-age sci-fi a trio of teenagers find out that adulthood really does suck after sneezing themselves 20 years into the future. The movie is a directed by young Chinese film-maker Li Yang on a maximalist scale; it’s noisy and flashy, like a John Hughes movie made for TikTok – every scene sped up or slowed down, stylised with a comic-book animation or pinging with gamer special effects.
The year is 1999 on a planet that looks a lot like Earth (although days are only 12 hours long, so time really does move fast). Three 18-year-old school friends acquire the power to travel forward 20 years in time after falling into a lake polluted by toxic chemicals. High-school heartthrob Chengyong (Yang Song) is appalled to discover as an adult he has become a nasty thug involved in an organ trafficking racket. Zha (Ruoyun Zhang) grows up to be an investigative journalist hopelessly and miserably in love with a colleague who’s so badass she puts on ear plugs to fight: “I hate the sound of men screaming.” Only overweight bullied Pao Pao (Chenhao Li) is pleased with the future. His 38-year-old self is gym-sculpted and living with the most popular girl from high school – which is not without complications. Continue reading...
