Escape from Mogadishu review – Somalia-set chase thriller thrives in the third act

Since the late '90s, South Korean cinema has been on an inexorable rise. Beyond the obvious major successes like Parasite, it now has an active and commercially viable genre film industry, one of only a few distinctly national genre industries to have emerged in the 21st century. As the major Hollywood studios vacate the middle ground, siphoning more of their energies into tentpole franchises, Korean films have begun to fill the demand for genre thrills and spills.

So it goes with Escape from Mogadishu, a slick, based-on-fact war thriller. It’s set in 1991 as rebel forces overrun Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. The early parts of the film depict the ambassadors of the two Korean embassies in the country trying to schmooze their way into Somali Presidential circles and gain admittance to the UN (both North and South Korea were only admitted to the UN in 1991, necessitating decades-long diplomatic efforts across the world to gain favour). As the title suggests, when the capital falls, the two embassies find themselves trapped together. Suddenly old enemies need to work together to outwit both rebel and government forces and get to safety.

Director Ryoo Seung-wan shows his talent for directing action with style and clarity throughout. There are the showboating moments – a long-take of the North Koreans venturing out of their looted embassy into the turmoil of the streets is excellent – but Ryoo makes sure that the viewer is always aware of the stakes and the dangers at play.

Escape from Mogadishu reaches its pinnacle in a climactic car chase sequence that is as thrilling and exciting an action scene as you’re likely to see this year. Sure, some of it stretches credibility: the characters bulletproof their cars by taping books and tables to the sides and windows (probably not that useful against machine-gun fire). No matter: the stunt work and choreography of the chase is exquisite. Tension and momentum are at the forefront throughout. Basics like spatial geography (something apparently increasingly impossible in Hollywood) are respected in every frame.

The film is not always so effective in its quieter moments. Although the ideological politicking between North and South is played with wry self-awareness (the organised effective North Koreans versus the overstretched and understaffed Southerners is a fun ploy), the principal protagonists are not given much depth. Both embassies are mirrors of each other (a good idea in and of itself), but the characterisation is too shallow to reveal anything interesting about either side. That said, when the action is this well-directed, shallowness is easy to overlook.

It's harder to overlook other aspects. As an increasingly internationally-confident Korean cinema begins to play with Hollywood genres, it's often guilty of making the similar mistakes in its depiction of foreign cultures. In this case, the Somalis are reduced to passengers in their own story: corrupt government officials or violent, crazed rebels. Escape from Mogadishu is by no means tasked with telling the complex story of the Somali Civil War through film, but perhaps a small acknowledgement of its effects on actual Somalis would not have gone amiss.

Escape from Mogadishu is released in cinemas and on streaming platforms on 25 March.