Based on a true story, EaD follows two inmates in a New York prison as they slowly plan their escape with the help of a female citizen employee of the prison. Benicio Del Toro (Usual Suspects, Sicario) and Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood, Swiss Army Man) star as the two leads and both put on quite good performances. Their companion Tilly, played by Patricia Arquette, is fantastic, by far the best acting / character in the whole thing. Directed by Ben Stiller (yes that one), this series felt more like a gritty drama that floated around hollywood for a few years until Ben Stiller picked it up as a means to produce something more serious and flex his directing chops. It's all good, and it seems like they do a good job portraying the true story that happened quite recently in 2015, but I'm not all that sure it was a story that really needed to be told. Interestingly unlike his more recent role in Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch where Benicio plays a tortured artist trapped in prison while sleeping with a prison employee, in this series he plays a tortured artist trapped in prison while sleeping with a prison employee, so at least you can say he has range.
Review of Escape at Dannemora
