Escape from Mogadishu (2021)

Not at all overrated

At first I was hesitant to watch this film because of it was based on a true story about the civil war that took place in Somalia; South Korea has had multiple issues with portraying foreign cultures after all. So hearing about this movie's plot taking place in a real historical event, though I am not part of that culture, made me uneasy. But because it got high ratings and awards, I gave in to my curiosity and gave it a go. From my observation, the film mainly focused on the 2 Korean embassies (as the title says) escaping from Mogadishu and barely touched on the details of the war going on around them.

Acting was SUPERB, as expected from top actors, Zo Insung, Kim Yoonseok, and Heo Joonho. I didn't know Koo Kyohwan was in this until I saw him in the film which was a pleasant surprise as he's becoming one of my new favorite actors after watching him in D.P.

Overall, it was a really touching story of how the 2 Koreas managed to put aside their political differences to survive together through the chaos. It actually reminded me of the movie Joint Security Area. Regardless of where you're from, this film will definitely make you strongly wish for reunification between North and South Korea.

I'm still curious, though, if they accurately presented the war. I kind of hoped that they showed more of the innocent Somali people who, like the Korean characters, were also victims and also desperately tried to escape. For those who know more about the real event and have seen the movie, please let me know in the comments if there were any inaccuracies. Thanks!

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this is not my type of story though the "inspired by real events" always gets me.
though the movie was not boring during the 2 hours, I still wished for a little more touching moments, and maybe angst but not devastation

like they could've bonded more during the night, they could've cooked together, the kids could've played together, the adults could've talked about books or music, something that gave the parting a more bitter feeling

I've actually seen a few movies like this, and I'm actually glad there was no sudden hidden evil because no matter what, there was too much evil there ;(
though I knew someone was bound to die, no wonder I liked Koo Kyo Hwan, he's the D.P cutie! that makes it sadder ;(

behind every conflict, behind every war, there's normal people who want normal things but they're in situations they can't control ;(

sad, heartbreaking, violent, scary, devastating and yet heartwarming and hopeful TT_TT

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