Daniel Radcliffe’s Underrated Prison Drama Is a Surprise Streaming Hit as ‘Harry Potter’ Countdown Continues
One of the biggest movie franchises of the 21st century is about to get its small-screen reboot, as HBO’s Harry Potter series gears up for a 2027 release. From major controversy to exciting casting, the world simply can’t get enough leaked looks and soundbites ahead of the long-awaited return to Platform 9¾. However, it isn’t just first looks at characters and actors weighing in on controversies that dominate the Harry Potter discourse, with some of the original actors’ post-Potter projects finding unlikely streaming success.
One such actor is Daniel Radcliffe, who recently saw his crime drama Imperium reach the upper echelons of the streaming charts. Now, another of his underrated movies, the 2020 prison drama Escape From Pretoria, is a streaming hit in the U.S., as one of the official top 10 most-watched movies on Starz. At the time of writing, Escape From Pretoria, directed by Francis Annan, is the ninth most-streamed movie on the platform, ahead of the tenth-placed The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Topping the current Starz charts is Len Wiseman’s From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, following its poor box office run. For those yet to catch Escape From Pretoria, here’s a look at the movie’s synopsis:
“Escape From Pretoria is the true story of Tim Jenkin (Radcliffe) and Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber), young, white South Africans branded “terrorists”, and imprisoned in 1978 for working covert operations for Nelson Mandela’s banned ANC. Incarcerated in Pretoria Maximum Security Prison, they decide to send the apartheid regime a clear message and escape! With breathtaking ingenuity, meticulous surveillance, and wooden keys crafted for 10 steel doors, they make a bid for freedom… Beyond a thrilling will-they-won’t-they-escape, this is the story of an oppressed majority’s struggle, and two ordinary men who stood-up to be counted in the pursuit of equality for all.”
‘Escape From Pretoria’ Was a Hit With Critics and Audiences
A lot was riding on the quality of Escape From Pretoria. Not only was the movie based on the real-life prison escape of three political prisoners in 1979, but it was also carved from one of the escapees’ 2003 book about his ordeal. Thankfully, the film lived up to almost all the expectations, earning a promising 71% from critics and a huge 86% from audiences on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The critics’ consensus on the site reads, “Escape From Pretoria doesn’t quite do justice to the fact-based story it’s dramatizing, but that lack of depth is offset by suitably gripping jailbreak action.”
Escape From Pretoria is streaming now on Starz.
Release Date
March 6, 2020
Runtime
106 minutes
Director
Francis Annan
Writers
L.H. Adams, Francis Annan
