Escape at Dannemora is a miniseries that premiered on Showtime in 2018. The Emmy-nominated show has once again generated curiosity among the audience after it began streaming on Netflix.
The series tells the story of a prison break, where two inmates, convicted of murders, escape. They are aided by a female employee who gets sexually involved with both of them. This initiates a manhunt for the murderers by the authorities.
The show is based on an astonishing true story as two convicted murderers, Richard Matt, and David Sweat, escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility in 2015 with the help of Joyce "Tilly" Mitchell, a married prison worker. This makes one wonder how accurate the depiction in Escape at Dannemora is.
The true story behind Escape at Dannemora
The prison break shown in Escape at Dannemora happened for real in 2015. Richard Matt, played by Benicio del Toro, was a dangerous criminal with a troubled past. In his 30s, he kidnapped and murdered his former boss, William Rickerson.
Matt escaped to Mexico, where he killed another person and served time in a Mexican prison before being sent back to the U.S. Once back, he received a life sentence.
David Sweat, played by Paul Dano, was 14 years younger than Matt but also had a troubled life. By age 9, he was already showing signs of aggression and spent time in foster care. Sweat’s life took a deadly turn in 2002 when he and two friends broke into a gun store.
When a sheriff’s deputy tried to stop them, Sweat and his accomplices shot the officer 15 times, killing him. Sweat was sentenced to life without parole. Like Matt, he spent years in Clinton Correctional Facility.
The third main character in the story, Joyce Mitchell, also known as Tilly and played by Patricia Arquette, worked as a seamstress at the prison. She had a complicated life and struggled with feelings of depression and loneliness.
Matt and Sweat noticed her vulnerability and built a close relationship with her. Both sparked a romance with her and reportedly had sexual relationships. Eventually, Mitchell helped them by smuggling tools they used to cut through walls and escape.
On June 6, 2015, Matt and Sweat broke out of their cells by drilling through walls, using tools Mitchell had brought in. It took them months to dig their way through the prison’s steel walls and underground tunnels.
Originally, the plan was for Mitchell to pick them up and drive them to Mexico. When she backed out, Matt and Sweat had to improvise, trying to flee toward the Canadian border instead.
They split up after Sweat realized Matt, who was injured, would slow him down. Matt was later found and shot on June 26, 2015, while Sweat was caught and sent back to prison.
Real Life Tilly called out Escape at Dannemora director for misrepresenting her character
Though Escape at Dannemora is based on a real incident, some events and conversations have been dramatized to make the show more engaging. Particularly, the real-life Tilly called out series director Ben Stiller after the show’s release, claiming she never had sex with the inmates.
Joyce Mitchell accepted that she did supply drills and hacksaws to Matt and Sweat because she was afraid of them, but denied having a consensual physical relationship with both. In 2018, Mitchell said in an interview with the New York Post:
“Ben Stiller is a son-of-a-b**ch 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. The truth doesn’t sell. Everyone thinks I’m just a wh*re who wanted it.”
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However, Stiller replied that the team spent a year in the research for the show. He said the team had interviews with several people in the jail and gathered enough information to infer that Tilly had relationships with Matt and Sweat.
For more updates about Escape at Dannemora and other shows based on real stories, stay tuned to Soap Central.
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