Content advisory: strobing/strobing effects

Time travel movies are so incredibly hit or miss simply because everyone tries to either recreate Back to the Future (1985) or make their own mark on the ever-loaded when at the core the film, at worst, needs to be mindless fun and, at best, needs to be heartfelt and genuine, and anything and everything in between. Having its east coast premiere during Boston Underground Film Festival 2025, Escape from the 21st Century from Yang Li finds itself between both ends of the spectrum, its style and visualization along with its coming-of-age plot, and its use of the reality that every teenager typically refuses to acknowledge, is what separates it from the pack and creates something fun and genuine for audiences to explore.

Ruoyun Zhang as Zha in ESCAPE FROM THE 21ST CENTURY. Photo courtesy of Cineverse.

Escape from the 21^st Century takes place on an alternate world that is incredibly similar to Earth except for the fact that the days are half as long. The movie starts in 1999, before the adventure begins, as the three main 18-year-old characters (Wang Chengyoung (Li Zhuozhao), Wang Zha (Yichen Chen), and Pao Pao (Kang Qixuan)) want to *escape* the 21st century. The three friends get the ability to travel in time (only by 20 years), after falling into a body of water polluted with toxic sludge — like so many comic book origin stories. The three friends find their 18-year-old selves in their 20-years-older bodies with Chengyong (Yang Song), the popular friend in his youth, suddenly learning about his more sinister life; Zha (Ruoyun Zhang) learning he’s an investigative journalist who is hopelessly in love with his co-worker; and Pao Pao (Leon Lee), the overweight kid who got bullied in his youth now finding himself seemingly satisfied with his life. However, the friends must work together despite their unsettling new realities to ensure that their powers don’t get exploited for evil.

L-R: Yang Song as Chengyong, Leon Lee as Pao Pao and Ruoyun Zhang as Zha in ESCAPE FROM THE 21ST CENTURY. Photo courtesy of Cineverse.

Escape from the 21st Century is a visual masterpiece that is heavy on effects and colorization, feeling like a comic book come to life in several moments within the film. This gives the world a new feeling to it and allows it to have pops of color that are oversaturated and action moments that are surely over-the-top, and it is a fun and creative visual style. While there are moments that bring this almost too far into the comic aspects of this world, the movie itself focuses on an unlikely story, so the exaggerated stylization isn’t completely unwarranted. The creative choices from Yang Li’s script give the film its energy while the cinematography by Saba Mazloum (Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon) gives Escape from the 21st Century its distinctive visual style. Based on how comic book-esque and lifted off the page it feels, one gets a sense that Yang wrote these aspects into the script moreso than it being a just a stylized cinematography decision. The charm of the movie comes from Yang Yi refusing to tell his story for Escape from the 21st Century in a linear manner, and, in its final climax, he needle-drops quintessentially one of the best uses of “Holding Out for a Hero.” The film holds all of the chaotic energy throughout and feeds it into this exuberant, visually appetizing climax that surely will rage with midnight crowds.

Ruoyun Zhang as Zha in ESCAPE FROM THE 21ST CENTURY. Photo courtesy of Cineverse.

Escape from the 21st Century is a stylized blast that focuses more on substance than storytelling, but the visuals and choreography are what make the movie fun. Story does seem to almost come secondary in its playful nature, with fun performances, but the stylized, over-the-top action sequences and needle drop in Yang Li’s film capture the hearts of the audience as a delightful crowd-pleaser. The cast brings their all and the differentiation between the characters’ 1999 selves and 2019 selves brings a level of modesty and humanity to Yang’s story. Overall, Escape from the 21st Century is not going to redefine the time travel genre, but it’s certainly a fun addition.

Screened during Boston Underground Film Festival 2025.
In select theaters June 9th. 2025.

For more information, head to the official Fortissimo Films Escape from the 21^st Century webpage.

Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Categories: In Theaters, Reviews

Tags: action, Beijing Enlight Pictures, Boston Underground Film Festival, Boston Underground Film Festival 2025, Chenhao Li, China, Chinese, Cineverse, Desen International Media, Elane Zhong, Escape from the 21st Century, film festival, foreign film, Fortissimo Films, Huanxi Media Group, Ruoyun Zhang, science fiction, Xiaoliang Wu, Yang Li, Yang Song, Yanmanzi Zhu, Zhengrong Wen, 从21世纪安全撤离