Perfect cast and a good story

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

The Basic Plot of a Taken Daughter may be a Reason to Knee-Jerk and Cry Foul or Worse Stay Away from this Low-Key Thriller set in Syria, of all Places, just Before the Uprising. This is not that Clear on Details, and it would be Better if it was, like the Background of the Protagonist, and His Much Talked About Past. But it is a Movie that Looks Really Good with Sharp, Colorful Images, and the Dialog and Performers have and Urgent Gravitas. The Movie is Somewhat Slowly Paced for this Type of Current Trend Action, but it has a Difference about its Similarities that makes it Intriguing.Overall it is Well Produced and Thoughtful but not Rich Enough or Viscerally Intense to Rise Above its Independent Stature. Worth a Watch but do not Expect any Bar Raising in the Genre, just a Competent, Entertaining Little Movie with Big Intentions.

I'm 100 % Syrian ... I will only focus about the things which should people consider before making a movie about a country they do not know !I would like to send a message to the guys who produced this film telling them to learn more about the country before making a movie about it . The only true thing is that taxis are yellow ... yes that is true while everything else is not ! extras ( combers ) are totally foreigners !!! all police ,army and ppl in the street lake the Syrian face !! no one of them even has it !! the Canadian guy who works in the embassy has a face which is more Syrian than 90% of people appeared in the movie the language used by the " native speaker " has nothing to do with any of the Syrian accents !!! to me it was like an Indian accent guy representing King Richard in a movie ! the way people dress is totally not Syrian ... it is more like north Africa ( Egypt , lybia , Morocco , etc ) the way the secret police acts is totally lame , they can get anything they want much easier than appears in the movie !the way the police and the army dress is 100% wrong there are many other details which are totally making this movie week , like the Idea of he is standing in front of the ministry of defense waiting for something ( no one is allowed to sit there ) .. and a colonel has a different rank shape on his shoulder ! plants species in the streets are not the ones u see there !!the atmosphere of the hotel he is in is typical Egyptian ( except one chair )there are many points to be mentioned ... I think if they asked one only one Syrian about such things they would have improved their work much more !!

Though this film has been negatively received as being a take-off on the TAKEN films (father looking for daughter under dire circumstances) it is a different kind of film and one written and directed by Ruba Nadda who manages to gives us a story that in many ways explains why the Syrian situation (terrifying chaos) is as it is. If for no other reason than to gain insight on what life in a country infested with many 'secret police' organizations whose drive seems to be shoot now investigate later.Years after he left Damascus under suspicious circumstances (he was a accused of being an Israeli spy), Adib Abdel Kareem (udanese born British character actor Alexander Siddig) is comfortably at work in Toronto when he is confronted with devastating news: his eldest daughter, Muna (Jay Anstey), has gone missing in Damascus. Now Adib, who has not been back in over 30 years, must return to Syria and deal with his secret past in order to find her. Getting a Visa is the first near impossible step, but once in Jordan he calls upon his ex- fiancée Fatima (Marisa Tomei) whom Adib deserted when he escaped to Canada years ago to assist him in ploughing through the red tape and dangers to find his daughter. The Canadian ambassador Paul (Joshua Jackson) is inextricably involved as is Adib's old comrade Sayid (Oded Fehr) and the man with answers Halim (Saad Siddiqui). Inescapable is a thriller about a father's desperate search for his daughter and the chaos of the Middle East he left behind.The film is tense and disheveled at times but that reflects the worrisome chaos of too many factions trying to assist a country who seems unable to find its core values. This is not a great film but it does offer a taste of what life must be like in war torn Syria. And for that it is worth watching. Grady Harp

I'm somewhat baffled by the ratings here. This is clearly not an extreme film, yet there are so many 10s. And 1s.It is a good enough film. It's a sort of detective action movie, involving a Canadian returning to his native Syria to rescue his daughter who is held captive because of something in his past. It kept my attention the whole time (even though I really should have been at home asleep).Some changes I would have made if I had no constraints (a) replace the TV actors with unknowns, and (b) shoot in the mid-east. It's worth delaying the film to make it the best it can be.In summary, it's a competent telling of the "good but flawed Western hero goes to bad non-Western country to rescue lost family member" story. If you want a Canada-Syria version of that story, then this may be that film. I'll have to leave it for others to comment on how accurately Syria is portrayed, as I have no idea.