Escape at Dannemora

''Escape at Dannemora'' is an American crime drama television limited series that premiered on Showtime on November 18, 2018. It is based on the 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape. The seven-episode series was created and written by Brett Johnson and Michael Tolkin and directed by Ben Stiller. It stars Benicio del Toro, Patricia Arquette, Paul Dano, Bonnie Hunt, Eric Lange, and David Morse.

Plot

The seven-episode series is based on the true story of the 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape in upstate New York. The breakout sparked a massive manhunt for two convicted murderers, Richard Matt and David Sweat, who were aided in their escape by Joyce "Tilly" Mitchell, a married prison employee entangled in secretive relationships with both men.

The series opens after the recapture of Matt and Sweat, with Tilly under arrest. Dressed in a striped jail uniform, she is interrogated about her involvement in the escape. The district attorney questions her, pushing Tilly to reveal the full extent of her relationships with the two inmates, insisting the truth is already known and simply needs to be put on record.

From there, the story rewinds to Tilly’s life before the escape, highlighting her monotonous daily routine with her husband, Lyle Mitchell. Lyle is portrayed as a simple man with little imagination, minimal hobbies, and few ambitions. Both Tilly and Lyle work at Clinton Correctional Facility, like many of their friends and neighbors. Tilly oversees the prison’s tailor shop, where Matt and Sweat work under her supervision.

Early in the first episode, it’s revealed that Tilly is having a sexual relationship with Sweat, conducted in secret within the machine room of the tailor shop. The relationship, however, is not as clandestine as Tilly believes—most of the other inmates in the shop are well aware of what’s going on, setting the series up for the complex power dynamics and manipulations that drive the story forward.

Cast

Main

* Benicio del Toro as Richard Matt, a convicted murderer
* Patricia Arquette as Joyce "Tilly" Mitchell, a married prison worker who becomes romantically entangled with both Matt and Sweat and aids in their escape
* Paul Dano as David Sweat, a convicted murderer
* Bonnie Hunt as Catherine Leahy Scott, the New York State Inspector General heading up a formal investigation of the Matt–Sweat prison escape
* Eric Lange as Lyle Mitchell, Tilly's husband and maintenance worker at Clinton Correctional
* David Morse as Gene Palmer, the inmate escort guard at Clinton Correctional

Recurring

* Jeremy Bobb as Dennis Lambert, a corrections officer and friend of Lyle
* Michael Beasley as Murder, an inmate who’s given Sweat’s job as shop supervisor upon his firing.
* Joshua Rivera as Angel, a fellow inmate of Matt and Sweat's.
* Carolyn Mignini as Ilene Mulvaney, Tilly’s supervisor who frequently butts heads with her
* Gregory Dann as Albert Boyd, the fearsome and most loathed correctional officer at Clinton Correctional. Matt and Sweat made their escape on Boyd's shift.

Guest

* Michael Imperioli as Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York
* Charlie Hofheimer as Kenny Barrile, Sr.
* Jim Parrack as Kevin Tarsia, a deputy sheriff

Production

Principal production commenced in Upstate New York from August 2017 to March 2018. For their roles, Patricia Arquette and Eric Lange each gained 40 pounds. Episode 6, the flashback episode, was filmed on 16 mm, unlike the rest of the series. Episode 6 was also filmed last so that Lange and Arquette could safely shed the weight they'd gained. Stiller later decided to shut down production for a month out of concern that they would not have enough time for weight loss. However, production was then further delayed three weeks to accommodate the birth of Lange's son.

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

The series was met with acclaim upon its premiere. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 88% with an average rating of 7 out of 10, based on 60 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Escape at Dannemora''s slow pace demands patience, but those willing to wait will be rewarded with a chilling mystery that provides the perfect showcase for its talented cast — especially a nearly unrecognizable and unbearably moving performance from Patricia Arquette." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 78 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Response from Joyce Mitchell

In a December 2018 interview at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, Joyce Mitchell criticized some events portrayed in the miniseries. She claimed, "I never had sex with them", referring to Richard Matt and David Sweat. She also harshly criticized director Ben Stiller, calling him "a son-of-a-bitch liar just like the rest of the world. He doesn't care about the truth. All he cares about is making millions off me. He's an idiot."

Awards and nominations

;Notes

References

External links

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{{Showtime Network programming

2010s American drama television miniseries
2018 American television series debuts
2018 American television series endings
American biographical series
American prison television series
American English-language television shows
Showtime (TV network) television dramas
Television series by Red Hour Productions
Television series based on actual events
Television shows set in New York (state)
Television series set in 2015