No Escape (2015)

Engineer Jack Dwyer (Owen Wilson) relocates to Southeast Asia with his wife Annie (Lake Bell) and two daughters. But soon after they arrive, they become trapped in local riots and a revolution. Certain to be murdered, they have no option but to attempt to flee.

It’s an exceedingly well-made action thriller that never lets up. There are some harrowing sequences and I will never forget the scene in which Jack – moments from being shot with his family and faced with an impossible choice – has to hurl his children between two buildings. 

Pierce Brosnan is excellent as the British intelligence agent who helps the Dwyers. He exudes charisma and charm, even with a silly London accent that makes him sound Australian. 

Director John Erick Dowdle favours jerky, semi-documentary edits that give the scenes a sense of urgency – although the effect may be overused. 

Critics complained that the film is xenophobic, but it's deliberately positioned from the Americans' perspective and as such conveys how terrifying such a situation might have seemed to them.