Six people wake in a cornfield. None have any idea of why or how they got there, but each finds an object next to them: matches, a compass, a gun, etc.
Is this a cruel prank? A Hangover scenario? A sociology experiment? A government conspiracy? The work of Malachai? A concussion-involved LARP? A holiday party for pawn shop employees? Or Cube as serialized in The Old Farmers’ Almanac?
Answer: It’s Escape the Field, an inconsistently diverting puzzle thriller from first-feature director Emerson Moore. The survival tale quickly establishes its central mystery, intros the characters and amps up the stakes as the unwitting players search for answers, not the least of is which is a way out. And how these objects might help them. And hey, who/what else is hiding among the acres of ears?
With Jordan Claire Robbins (TV’s The Umbrella Academy), Theo Rossi (Kill Theory) and Shane West (Awakening the Zodiac) leading the cost-efficient cast, Escape the Field appears more than capable of being an agriculture-dependent take on the Escape Room franchise. After all, Moore and co-scribes Sean Wathen and Joshua Dobkin have packed a season’s worth of Lost into an untaxing hour and a half, without all the side stories to detract from the action.
However, they also bring the divisive series’ mountain of frustration — less in how it ends and more about just what the heck we’re looking at in the final shot. After three rewinds, I still don’t know. —Rod Lott