Enjoyable movie that does not overstays it's welcome.

I recognized the story while watching (maybe I saw the National Geographic episode that was dedicated to this, or through some YouTube channel) and I felt like it was done well without getting too unfaithful to the original story (I have not done my research on this though, so don't take me word on it.)

The aim was clearly to go for a more realistic experience, and try not to overly sensationalize the plot or visuals. And at times the movies leans more toward a (visually more darker) _'The Great Escape'_ rather than a _'Shawshank Redemption'_. Although _'Escape From Pretoria'_ does not reach the heights of either of those aforementioned prison classics, the movie is worth the watch and can stand on it's own well enough.

PS. I had no issue with the 'Harry Potter effect' that is mentioned in some of the other comments. I think the reason for that might be that it has been a while since I saw any of the HP films, while at the same time I saw several other movies of Radcliffe. To the others I would recommend to try watch him in some of his totally different roles, like the absurd _'Swiss Army Man'_ and the more recent _'Guns Akimbo'_. The humour might be a bit odd, so I can't give any guarantee you like it. Or you can try _'Imperium'_. I did not see that one, but it had decent reviews and is a lot more serious.

Political activists Tim Jenkin (Daniel Radcliffe) and Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber) from the African National Congress are imprisoned in Pretoria Prison and come up with a plan to escape.

I like prison films, especially prison escape films. I don't know how accurate the prison escape to the real story of Tim Jenkin is but if this is how he actually escaped, maybe the director could have added more scenes that didn't happen to make it more suspenseful and exciting. For the most part, it is just Daniel Radcliffe making keys and trying them out. That is pretty much the whole plan and while they went for a more realistic than a stylish approach it didn't really make for an entirely enjoyable watch, but it wasn't all terrible.

Daniel Radcliffe was great in the movie, and so was Stephen Lee and Mark Leonard Winters. I just wished for more character moments, what was he up to before prison, why he was arrested and what he did after his escape. I'm sure you could find out if you read more about Tim Jenkins story, but I feel like this film should assume you know nothing about him and inform you of this. The accents seemed pretty good despite them not being South African.

It had some intense moments but fails to maintain it throughout the film. A forgettable movie that I probably won't watch again. 5/10.