Akilla’s Escape

Directed by Charles Officer, Akilla’s Escape follows drug trader Akilla Brown (Saul Williams) as he’s forced to take matters into his own hands after a routine handoff turns violent. It’s a promising setup that’s employed to watchable yet increasingly underwhelming effect by Officer, as the filmmaker, working from a script written with Wendy Motion Brathwaite, delivers a leisurely-paced drama that never entirely manages to wholeheartedly capture the viewer’s interest and attention – with the mostly hands-off atmosphere generally perpetuated by Williams’ muted turn as the less-than-sympethetic protagonist (ie there’s never really a point at which one has much invested in Akilla’s success, ultimately). It’s clear, then, that Akilla’s Escape‘s mild success is due almost entirely to Officer’s stylish direction and an ongoing smattering of compelling sequences (eg Akilla explains the situation to a concerned bystander), which does, in the end, cement the picture’s place as a well-made yet disappointingly unmemorable piece of work.

**1/2 out of ****