The Great Escaper

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The Great Escaper

2023,

1h 36m,

Drama

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Watchlist

90%

41 Reviews

Tomatometer

83%

50+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

90%

Tomatometer

41 Reviews

83%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

In the summer of 2014 -- the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings -- octogenarian Bernie Jordan (Michael Caine) made global headlines. He'd staged a "great escape" from his care home to join fellow war veterans on a beach in Normandy, commemorating their fallen comrades. It was a story that captured the imagination of the world -- Bernie seemed to embody the defiant, "can-do" spirit of a generation that was fast disappearing. But of course, it wasn’t the whole story. It was the story we all tell ourselves to make war and old age bearable. The bitter-sweet script explores the reality with wit and a very big heart. Bernie's adventure, spanning a mere 48 hours, also marked the culmination of his 60-year marriage to Irene (Glenda Jackson) -- the story celebrates their love without sentimentality and with an eye to the lessons we can all learn from the Greatest Generation.

Critics Consensus

Sweet without straying into sentimentality, The Great Escaper gains added resonance thanks to a pair of stellar performances from Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson.

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Nick Schager

The Daily Beast

Nov 23, 2025

If its melodrama is unabashedly manipulative, it’s not altogether ineffective at eliciting waterworks.

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Robert Lloyd

Los Angeles Times

Nov 21, 2025

Jackson and Caine wear their years proudly; there’s no vanity in their performance or their appearance. The couple’s eventual reunion is deep and real and, like their whole relationship, gorgeously ordinary.

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Barry Hertz

Globe and Mail

May 30, 2024

While not remotely the best project of either Caine or Jackson’s career -- it wouldn’t crack the Top 10 -- the film is a slight but sweet ode to a particular flavour of Britannia that will leave its target audience in sentimental shambles.

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Todd Jorgenson

Cinemalogue

Nov 21, 2025

An esteemed cast helps this bittersweet drama about healing, reconciliation, mortality, and the lasting emotional trauma of war from drifting into heavy-handed sentimentality.

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Francesca Steele

iNews.co.uk

Dec 11, 2024

3/5

Jackson is rambunctious without it ever feeling like the film is patronising Rene.

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Blai Morell

Fotogramas

Nov 8, 2024

3/5

But... why do you want more when you have two acting beasts sharing that last cinematic journey together? [Full review in Spanish]

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Oliver Parker

Director

Michael Caine

Bernard Bernie Jordan

Glenda Jackson

Irene Jordan

Danielle Vitalis

Adele

John Standing

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Synopsis

In the summer of 2014 -- the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings -- octogenarian Bernie Jordan (Michael Caine) made global headlines. He'd staged a "great escape" from his care home to join fellow war veterans on a beach in Normandy, commemorating their fallen comrades. It was a story that captured the imagination of the world -- Bernie seemed to embody the defiant, "can-do" spirit of a generation that was fast disappearing. But of course, it wasn’t the whole story. It was the story we all tell ourselves to make war and old age bearable. The bitter-sweet script explores the reality with wit and a very big heart. Bernie's adventure, spanning a mere 48 hours, also marked the culmination of his 60-year marriage to Irene (Glenda Jackson) -- the story celebrates their love without sentimentality and with an eye to the lessons we can all learn from the Greatest Generation.

Director: Oliver Parker
Producer: Robert Bernstein, Douglas Rae
Screenwriter: William Ivory
Distributor: PBS Distribution
Production Co: Pathe UK, Ecosse Films, Ingenious, BBC Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 23, 2025
Runtime: 1h 36m

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