Hi, Mystery Recapped here. Today, I am going to explain a Chilean Drama thriller film
called “Jailbreak Pact”. Spoilers ahead! Watch out and take care!
The movie is based on a real event that happened around the 1990s in Chile. During the last years
of the military regime, many protesters are imprisoned in a penitentiary in Santiago.
The police treat them as terrorists and manhandle them to the cells.
The general in command Andrade is a cruel man who wants to teach the prisoners a lesson.
Inspector Braulio gathers them to give them an introduction to the life they
are going to live from now on. Since their imprisonment falls under antiterrorist law,
they will be monitored twenty-four seven and if found spreading any kind of propaganda,
they will be sentenced to death. A group of five protesters led by Leon
is also among the prisoners. They have come to the prison with the intention of escaping. Today
is the day they choose their cells and the day they initiate their plan. Leon quickly runs to the
second floor to take cell number fifty. According to their plan, it directly connects to the cell
below which will be the opening of the tunnel. However, he sees that cell fifty is already taken
and has to settle for fifty-one. The room will be at an angle this way but the group has
other things to worry about at the moment. The prisoners settle into their new lives,
some taking up hobbies like carpeting, cooking, singing,
and so on. During an hour-long break time, Leon, Rafael, and German discuss the plan. Leon is an
architect and the mastermind of the mission. He knows that some meters away from the wall is
the Mapocho river surrounded by palm trees. The distance of the tunnel can be calculated in terms
of their steps with every two steps counting up to five feet. This means the tunnel should be around
seventy meters long. They will have to remove around sixty tons of soil to dig a tunnel of such
a length. But the question remains where can they put all that soil without the guards noticing.
As the trio discusses the plan, a fellow prisoner Paulo watches them. Later,
he approaches Rafael and asks to be involved in whatever they are trying to do. The trio
trusts him and includes him in the group. In the following scene, they are in the ground
floor’s cell which is supposed to be the opening of the tunnel. They have to make
a hole in the wall and create a block out of the residue. That way, they can hide the hole
using the block when they aren’t working. Then, Leon looks for a place to hide the tons
of soil. A guitarist gets a hint of this and offers him a screwdriver.
He is also included in the plan after that. Using the tool, Leon tries making a square hole
in the ceiling in the next few days. They have to keep the banging as low as possible
even though the guitarist is outside singing songs to cut the noise.
With the last hit, two blocks of cement fall from the ceiling and make a mess.
Leon quickly asks the others to bring eggs and lime to make a mixture that will look like a
block and close the hole. The team divides the task and gets to work but just then,
the guitarist sings a specific song indicating that the guards are doing a surprise check.
Leon checks the hole and is satisfied to see that the loft area is enough
to hold any amount of soli. After that, he makes the block
just in time and covers it with the poster of a woman. When the guards check the room,
they do not think much of the posters. One guard tries taking it off but stops because the girl is
wearing too many clothes in his opinion. It has now been thirty-four days since the
prisoners got to the prison. It is also a visitor’s day when their relatives get to
come and meet them for some time. Rafael gets to spend time with his wife but they get into
an argument because she didn’t bring the kids. Following the meeting, the group continues making
a better block that won’t be suspicious even if the guards get a view of it. They do this
by filling a hollow box of wood with cement. When the block is ready, they start hammering the
wall that is supposed to be the opening of the tunnel. The cell is filled with
residue cement when they are informed of the inspector’s arrival. They quickly clean
up the mess and pretend to be working. Fortunately for them, the guard doesn’t look
around before walking away. To ensure safety, Leon blasts a radio and continues hammering the
wall. After it is big enough, they fit the block inside and make it look seamless.
The remainder of the soil residue is packed in a bag and taken to cell number fifty-one. There,
Leon puts it on the loft over the ceiling, hiding it where the guards would never think to look.
This goes on for the next few days. The guitarist always waits outside the cell to keep an eye on
who comes and goes. The other four take turns digging the tunnel. The soil residue is put
into different bags on different days to be taken to the upper floor and dumped on the loft. Then,
the cement blocks are used to close both the holes and keep them hidden.
The group maintains enough social presence so they don’t seem suspicious. Still,
a smart prisoner named Oscar sees that they follow the same routine every day,
in a way that seems unnatural to him. On say seventy-seven, Leon measures the
length of the tunnel they have dug till now. He is disappointed to see that it is not enough
at all. At this rate, they will take years to complete the task which means more
opportunities for the guards to catch them. Leon registers that they are lacking manpower.
Later that day, German is doing the daily chore of bringing soil to the upper floor. But this time,
he is stopped by a guard and asked to show what is in the bag. He nervously does so
but the soil is in the lower compartment covered by his personal belongings.
The guard asks him to come to the office and German keeps the bag away before following
the orders. Upon reaching the office, the guard offers him nude magazines for money.
German sighs with relief and is glad that the meeting wasn’t about something else.
In the following scene, the trio continues to dig the tunnel while listening to the
news on the radio. They find out that the people of Chile have completely thrown the
dictator away and have welcomed democracy in the country. It is bad news for them because
they do not believe in democracy. The news only makes them want to work harder
so they can go outside quickly and turn everything around before their leader gives up.
On day eighty-six, Leon gathers up the prisoners who are waiting for the death penalty.
He shows them the progress they’ve made on the tunnel, before telling them every detail
of the plan. The group instantly decides to help them and is added to their team.
Working at night is not feasible because of the noise so they start working two-hour
shifts per person during the day. They take the smallest measures to ensure they aren’t caught;
for instance, washing the dirt off their hands and bodies after every shift. Some of them are
always outside the cells keeping an eye out for the guards and anyone who suspects them.
They also create another hole between the ground floor and the first floor so they won’t have to
transfer the dirt by stairs which is much riskier. Eventually, the rate of progress
accelerates and the end seems near. Throughout everything, the group continues
socializing with the other prisoners. They play during break times and watch TV,
as usual, to ensure no one suspects them. In one of the football matches, Oscar tells
Rafael that he knows what they are up to. He also wants to be a part of the team but rumor
has it that he is in prison after snitching on his own people. Still, Leon decides to give him
a chance and includes him in the mission. In the next scene, German tells Rafael that even
if they make the perfect tunnel, without help from the outside, they will never be able to escape.
Some of their fellow protesters from the party are still outside. If the prisoners are able to send
them a message, they will surely come to help. On day one hundred eighty-two, Rafael’s wife comes
to see him for visitor’s day. He tells her about their plan and asks her to inform the
party about it. The woman thinks about it for a long time even after the meeting.
Then comes the day two hundred and five. Work is going as usual and the guitarist is in the
tunnel. All of a sudden, the entire police force comes for a surprise check. Leon quickly alerts
everyone but it will take more than ten minutes to clean up the mess and bring the guitarist out.
While some people help him, the others go outside to stop the police. Rafael insults
them and starts a fight between the two parties. This gives the guitarist enough
time to come out and seal the opening. When he opens the door, the police have
already defeated the prisoners and taken them to the ground. Commander Andrade makes them
stay under the sun with no clothes. Somewhere else Rafael’s wife goes to the
party’s headquarters. But she is asked to forget about the party helping them because they have
enough problems on their plate. However, she doesn’t give up and thinks of a better plan.
She goes to a Church to meet Leon’s father, German’s wife, and Rafael’s old associate.
They all agree to help the guys from outside with whatever they need.
The scene cuts to day three hundred and ninety-two. A man is working inside the
tunnel when he passes out. Fortunately for him, his friend immediately drags him outside.
By now, the tunnel runs deep and there is a scarcity of oxygen inside. To solve the problem,
they include the carpenter in the team. He creates a tube and a fan-like structure that can supply
air to the deepest corners of the tunnel. Then, we are introduced to a sly man named
Bigote. He is called by the commander and is given a packet of cigarettes. In exchange,
the commander wants to know what every single prisoner is up to.
Later that day, Rafael finds out the tunnel has crossed the prison’s border.
He creates a hole on the ground and pushes a pink liquid outside. It is spotted by Rafael’s
associate who is helping him escape. On the next visitor’s day, Leon’s father
comes to him and reveals that the liquid is still forty meters away
from the place they want the tunnel to end. On day five hundred fiftyeight, the city is hit
by an earthquake. Leon, who is outside, immediately rushes in to save the person
inside the tunnel. Luckily, no one is injured and the tunnel isn’t blocked either.
Leon has grown a friendship with a wheelchair-bound prisoner over the
months. He tells the man about the escape plan and asks him to join. The guy refuses
because he has already given up on life and knows he cannot crawl through the tunnel.
Then, finally comes the day they execute the last stage of the months-long plan. Everyone is in the
TV room for weekly nighttime entertainment when one after another, the people start to leave.
No one suspects anything because the show is not interesting. Leon is outside the
opening of the tunnel, checking if all the prisoners have come. There are fifty of
them in total which means they have to trust each other on who gets to go after who.
Meanwhile, Bigote notices the absence of the prisoners and goes out to check on them. The
wheelchair guy tries to stop him but is shoved. When Bigote reaches the cell, everyone has entered
the tunnel except Oscar. Bigote wants to tell the police but Oscar restrains him. He is stabbed with
a screwdriver but even after that, he knocks Bigote out. But then, the injury prevents him
from getting inside the tunnel after others. The remaining forty-nine of them are lined up
inside the tunnel waiting for the people from outside to open the other end.
Rafael’s friend does so and they come outside one after another.
Rafael’s wife has already prepared a change of clothes for all of them. After changing,
they hide by the river until a bus arrives to pick them up. They immediately board the bus
but German is worried about Oscar. He asks them to wait for a while and goes to fetch him.
Back in the prison, the rest of the criminals find out about the
tunnel and enter it. The police reinforcements arrive and gather the remaining prisoners.
In the bus, the siren is heard, so they decide to drive away without German and Oscar. Seconds
later, German arrives and says that Oscar never came out of the tunnel. Because they cannot return
to check on him, they simply drive away. Meanwhile, some other prisoners are able to escape
but most of them are dragged out of the tunnel. We see Oscar crying in jail and cursing his fate. The
commander gets the news and loses his mind. On the bus, all the escapees are given money and
fake IDs. Following that, they are dropped in different parts of another city in a group of
three. In the end, Leon wishes Rafael goodbye and walks away to start a new chapter of his life.
This is how forty-nine prisoners escaped a heavily guarded prison
after 18 months of digging in 1990. Subscribe for more videos like this,
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