Escape 2120 (2020) - Edward Pritchard as Dave - IMDb

 Escape 

Blog Post: My Take on Escape 2120 (2020) — Featuring Edward Pritchard as Dave

Opening Impressions

When I first came across the indie sci-fi film Escape 2120, I was intrigued by its bold concept: an orphaned teen catapulted into the far-future and forced to navigate a strange utopia. With Edward Pritchard in the lead role of Dave, the film promised a journey of personal loss, time travel, and survival in a world unrecognizable.

The Setup: Dave’s World

Dave is introduced as a teenager who’s lost his parents in a car accident, and is living in a modest rooming house and trying to find his 

As Escape 2120 begins, we see a couple of flashes from a nightmare scene of a car accident… we gradually learn that David is an older teenager … who was orphaned when his parents were killed…

The Time-Travel Twist

Doc and Sally are scientists working on suspended animation/time travel. They invite Dave to assist in their experiments. Ultimately they depart into the , leaving Dave behind initially. 

Dave then becomes obsessed with the idea of time travel himself: he uses their prototype machine, intending to travel 100 years ahead—but due to calibration issues, lands centuries ahead, into a primitive world that has evolved differently than expected. 

Arrival in the Future & Confrontation

In the future setting, Dave encounters a society that, on the surface, appears utopian: natural landscapes, simple living, uniform dress, communal life. But underneath, there is tension: a “Brotherhood” (or cult-like group) believes in the prophecy of the “Devil’s Child,” and Dave is mistaken for or assumed to be this entity. 

Dave’s alienness—his modern clothes, his shock at the world, his outsider status—makes him a target. At one point he swaps clothes with Nalia (a future inhabitant), tries to adapt, but the Brotherhood sees him as a threat

Why Dave’s Story Matters

At its heart, Dave’s story is about longing: for family, for belonging, for meaning. When he accepts assistance from Doc & Sally, he’s grasping at connection. His decision to follow into the future is both an act of bravery and desperation: wanting to escape his grief and find purpose. Once in the future, his alienation becomes literal—he is the outsider in a world that views him as mythic (or monstrous). That tension drives the central conflict.

In many ways, the shoes (the red Converse) symbolise his past, his identity. him swapping clothing, trying to fit in: those are visual metaphors for identity transformation. The fact he ends up viewed as the “Devil’s Child” speaks to themes of fear of the other, scapegoating, and destiny vs choice.

Final Verdict

Escape 2120 is a film with noble ambitions and some interesting narrative beats, largely thanks to Edward Pritchard’s grounded turn as Dave. However, its limitations in budget, scope and narrative clarity hold it back from fully realising its ideas. For fans of indie sci-fi who appreciate “ideas over polish,” it can be worthwhile. For those expecting slick futuristic visuals or tight plotting, it may frustrate.

Recommendation

If you’re curious: give it a try on a streaming platform, but go in with modest expectations. Focus on the character of Dave and the thematic underpinnings more than the execution.
If you liked this, you might also enjoy indie time-travel tales with strong character focus rather than big visual spectacle.

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If you like, I can go scene-by-scene through Dave’s arc (spoiler-filled) and highlight key moments that stood out. Would you n