Originally packaged with a much more apt title (The Coup), the ambiguously-named No Escape is still the second surprise thriller of the summer (the first being the shockingly excellent The Gift). John Erick Dowdle, who delivered the monstrously underrated As Above/So Below last year, again proves his knack for preeminently nail-biting sequences with a 103-minute zombie feature that replaces said zombies with radicalized “Asians”. Whereas zombies lack motive, the bloodthirsty nature of the enemy in No Escape is their defining feature and makes for antagonists who are thinly drawn but hugely imposing. Moments of cliche are all but drown out by the overwhelming panic at the heart of the film, a film that manages to tap into the epicenter of terror – having your family hacked to pieces in front of your eyes. It is, in three words: intense as f*ck.

Owen Wilson is Jack Dwyer, a fizzled-inventor-turned-international-company-man with a family of three in tow. We meet him on the plane ride over, staring longingly into the pillowy abyss below. Anyone who’s seen the trailer will know, it won’t be the last time he stares down at his fate. Some failed business involving a valve that “was close to being big but wasn’t” has him accepting a job in distant “Asia”. Though the filmmakers do their best to toss a veil over where exact in “Asia” the events are taking place, this critic – who spent a year in Thailand – couldn’t overlook the sporadic Thai writing (though Cambodia saw an uproar when Khmer lettering could be seen on a police shield in the film’s first trailer), occasional Thai phrases (“Falang” is thrown around whenever foreigners are referred to) and general governmental parallels with the great former-Siam (as well as the sharing a border with Vietnam business). No one may want to say it, but this is Thailand. It even shot in Chiang Mai.

The film opens with a long take that stacks up tension like a toothpick castle. A hurried waiter rushes up velvet-draped steps, swiping past security here and bowing to superiors there all the while precariously balancing a tray that carries what appears to be a pair of translucent beverages; refreshing sprigs of mint hang from their lips like Asian mint juleps. Upon reaching the throne room, a taster samples the beverages before pausing and waving the server towards the two distinguished and clearly important men conferencing in the background. The “Prime Minister” of this ambiguously Asian country (again, it’s Thailand) shakes hands with a shadowy white man before slurping his minty fresh beverage – which, at this point, the discerning viewer suspects has been poisoned. Dowdle plants the taster in the forefront of the frame to amplify the anticipation of gagging, fizzling, choking throats. The music hums at a low decibel and just as we expect the poison to work its magic, a wave of gunshots fill the silence. The coup swept in on different wings than we would have expected. The title card runs red with blood.

From here, plot runs secondary to Dowdle’s staging of disquieting suspense. In fact, he often practices the virtue of withholding from the audience. Though we know slightly more than the characters in the thick of this sudden political blitzkrieg, we’re not subjected to numbing scenes of exposition. Rather, the conversation sticks to the bare necessities – “Where’s Lucy?” or “We have to go to the roof.” Dowdle prefers to let silence accomplish his goals rather than beat his audience over the head with stale words that fill stale screenplays. The implication is often all we need and No Escape is that too scarce thriller that frequently avoids unnecessary exposition and is all the greater for it.

As Jack’s wife, Lake Bell is better than ever. Though often wrapped up in comic ventures (some more successful than others), Bell proves a dramatic worth here I didn’t know she had in her. She takes her punches with aplomb and makes us feel her falls. Whereas most directors prefer to leave their heroes unscathed in the heat of pursuit – they run, jump, fall, take beatings and remain 110% for the bulk of the action – Bell and Wilson both emanate their injuries. Skinned knees never looked quite so infected and totally ouch-y.

Another performer who rises to the top in No Escape is Pierce Brosnan, who doesn’t look like he’s had this much fun since The World is Not Enough. Brosnan is a roguish expat with a shadowy history – one that’s left his body marked with battle scars – and he taps into the playfulness of his Bond ways as if not a day has passed. As to whether the literal scars of his past are from bar fights, “tiger attacks” or something more sinister, we’re not immediately sure. Getting to know the character better is one of No Escape’s greatest games and Brosnan is more than up for the job.

As can be expected, No Escape has drawn criticism from left-leaning detractors who claim its central premise is offensive and/or racist. But to get caught up on the particulars of the events at play are to miss the forest for the trees. It’s also just being a dumb audience member. Those who actually did their research might find that the situations depicted is indeed much more realistic than early defamers may assume. Something about assumptions and asses can be inserted here.

Extreme in nature and certainly not for the feint of heart, No Escape is a thriller willing to thrill. A bloody, brutal affair centered around a family that you’ll want to root for, it contains some of the year’s best suspense as well as one of the most badass sacrificial deaths in years. People will be far too happy to nitpick at the political correctness they deem the narrative is let down but they’d be missing the point. This movie doesn’t care about your PC. Because it’s a Mac Truck.

CONCLUSION: Balls-to-the-walls action thriller No Escape will have you on the edge of your seat for its entire run-time. Though its trailers look genuinely awful, it’s one hell of a ride.