Get Away: Film Review
Thanks to films like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, I will always have a soft spot for Nick Frost. So of course I had to check out his new comedy horror Get Away, which he also wrote.
The film, directed by Steffen Haars, follows the Smith family – Richard (Frost), Susan (Aisling Bea), Sam (Sebastian Croft) and Jessie (Maisie Ayres) – as they go on holiday to the remote Swedish island of Svalta. Although the island is not private, the residents do not want them there and threaten and intimidate them. The situation escalates between the commune and the holidaymakers and it all ends in a bloody mess.
I enjoyed the first half of Get Away. It had a promising setup, there were some great jokes, and the residents were suitably weird and unwelcoming. Frost and Bea were funny and charming, the characters were quirky in a comedic way and I was intrigued about how the situation would pan out.
But all that potential was wasted on a game-changing moment that pulled the rug out from underneath us. I appreciate a good twist and being taken by surprise but only when it is earned. This revelation made no sense and it felt like some important scenes were cut between the wild jump from A to B. To call it a tonal shift would be putting it mildly.
After that, there was some amusingly deranged mayhem but I couldn’t enjoy the bloodbath because it felt shallow and silly and not properly thought out. It seemed as if Frost made a lot of effort to conceal the twist but put less care into what happened afterwards. The revelation was barely fleshed out or explained either. At least give us more details! I came away with so many questions.
Get Away is such a missed opportunity. I loved the setting, the family dynamic and the relationship between the commune and the holidaymakers so it’s a real shame it descended into absolute nonsense.
On Sky Cinema from Friday 10th January
Rating: 3 out of 5.
