Escape
“Fear a meaningless life, not death itself.”
After completing his required decade of military service and being honored as a hero, a North Korean sergeant makes a sudden shocking attempt to defect to the South, risking life and limb for the chance to finally determine his own destiny.
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video
Stream
Hulu
Stream
Hi-YAH
Stream
The Roku Channel
Free with ads
Kanopy
Free
Hoopla
Free
Your rating
Your review
Cast
37 people
Lee Je-hoon
Lim Kyu-nam
Known for
Vagabond
Move to Heaven
Koo Kyo-hwan
Lee Hyun-sang
Known for
Colony
Parasyte: The Grey
Hong Xa-bin
Kim Dong-hyuk
Known for
Duty After School
The School Nurse Files
Seo Hyun-woo
Major Cha
Known for
Flower of Evil
A Shop for Killers
Lee Sung-wook
Lieutenant Hong
Known for
The Silent Sea
XO, Kitty
Yoo Tae-joo
Captain Ryu
Known for
Big Mouth
Teach You a Lesson
Jung Jun-won
Second Lieutenant Park
Known for
A Model Family
Resident Playbook
Jang Young-nam
Dong-hyuk's Mother
Known for
It's Okay to Not Be Okay
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo
Song Kang
Min Sun-woo
Known for
Love Alarm
Sweet Home
Esom
Nomad Leader
Known for
Black Knight
Because This Is My First Life
Lee Ho-jung
Girl with Rifle
Known for
Scarlet Heart: Ryeo
Nevertheless,
Shin Hyun-ji
Sang-gu's Sister
Also in
One Day Off
Now, We Are Breaking Up
Lee Jong-pil Director · Kwon Sung-hui Writer Kim Woo-geun Writer
Worldwide gross $13M · Budget $6.6M · United States release July 5, 2024
Box office
Budget
$6,606,856
Worldwide gross
$13,368,094
Gross vs. budget
2.0×
Production
The LAMP
Production
Plus M Entertainment
Production
South Korea
Produced in
Languages
Original title
탈주
Original language
Korean
Spoken on screen
Korean
Release dates
South Korea · July 3, 2024
Theatrical
United States · July 5, 2024
Limited theatrical
Australia
July 18, 2024 · Theatrical
November 5, 2025 · Physical
Belgium
September 27, 2024 · Premiere · Korean Film Festival Belgium
Canada
July 5, 2024 · Theatrical
France
November 1, 2024 · Premiere · Korean Film Festival in Paris
Hong Kong SAR China
October 19, 2024 · Premiere · Hong Kong Asian Film Festival
November 1, 2024 · Digital
Indonesia
July 10, 2024 · Theatrical
Italy
March 20, 2025 · Premiere · Florence Korea Film Fest
Japan
June 20, 2025 · Theatrical
Philippines
November 4, 2024 · Digital · Netflix
Poland
October 6, 2024 · Premiere · Warsaw Korean Film Festival
Singapore
July 11, 2024 · Theatrical
South Korea
August 26, 2024 · Digital
Spain
October 8, 2024 · Premiere · Sitges Film Festival
Switzerland
March 27, 2025 · Premiere · Fribourg International Film Festival
Taiwan
August 2, 2024 · Theatrical
Thailand
July 18, 2024 · Theatrical
United Kingdom
October 23, 2024 · Premiere · London East Asia Film Festival
More from Lee Jong-pil
Other films they directed, best known first.
If you liked Escape
Picks that share its genres, themes, cast and crew.
Some details come from TheTVDB.