The Way Back
2010 · Movie · PG-13 · 133 min · ★ 7.0 · 70% critics
A small group of convicts pulls off an escape from a WWII-era Siberian gulag and sets out across harsh, hostile terrain. Their desperate trek spans multiple countries as they struggle to stay alive and push toward freedom.
Based on The Long Walk
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Details
- Years
- 2010
- Release date
- 2010-11-22
- Language
- English
- Rated
- PG-13
- Runtime
- 133 min
- Max quality
- HD
- Critic score
- 70/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.0/10 (1,762 votes)
- Box office
- $20,348,249
- Budget
- $30,000,000
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you like relentless survival road movies like Rescue Dawn or Thirteen Lives; Not for you if you dislike long, punishing journeys, slow pacing, or stories based on disputed true accounts.
Pros: powerful survival drama; impressive escape story; stunning harsh landscapes | Cons: slow pace at times; sometimes repetitive journey; disputed story origins
Themes
- escape
- world war ii
- soviet union
- anti-communism
- india
- gulag
- american
- thug
- based on memoir or autobiography
- communism
- political repression
- ussr
Awards & recognition
- Academy Award — Best Makeup and Hairstyling · 2011 · nominated
Cast & crew
Ed Harris
as Mr. Smith
Jim Sturgess
as Janusz Wieszczek
Saoirse Ronan
as Irena Zielińska
Colin Farrell
as Valka
Mark Strong
as Andrei Khabarov
Gustaf Skarsgård
as Andrejs Voss
Dejan Angelov
as Andrei
Dragoș Bucur
as Zoran
Sally Brunski
as Janusz's Wife, 1939
Alexandru Potocean
as Tomasz Horodinsky
Directed by Peter Weir