There’s no question that the build-up in Get Away is better than the payoff as limbs fly and blood sprays. Nick Frost and Steffen Haars’ Get Away is showing exclusively on Sky Cinema and NOW TV starting Friday, January 10.
Spoiler Free
Nothing could be more refreshing, revitalising and rejuvenating than an idyllic getaway to a remote Swedish island with those you love, right? Wrong! Just as Richard (Nick Frost), his wife Susan (Aisling Bea) and teenage kids, Sam (Sebastian Croft) and Jessie (Maisie Ayres), are about to find out. Anyone would think none of them had ever watched Midsommer.
Their choice of holiday island is somewhat unconventional: Svalta is a place of ghosts, wicked legends and blood, a place where a 19th-century tragedy unfolded, thanks to British soldiers, and a place where locals mark that tragedy annually with the Karantan festival. But hey-ho, a break is a break, and the family are looking forward to some downtime, saunas and long woodland walks. Plus, there’s the festival to enjoy if the locals allow them anywhere near it. Yet, at the same time, something feels off-kilter about this getaway from the moment it starts, from an Airbnb host (Eero Milonoff) who has more than a passing resemblance to Norman Bates to a spikey island leader (Anitta Suikkari) who likes her meat rare and a host of uneasy and mysterious family dynamics.
Written by Nick Frost, Get Away carries all the hallmarks of a classic British comedy/horror, as the opening fifty minutes offer a gag-filled love letter to folk-horror classics ranging from The Wicker Man to Midsommer, 1001 Maniacs, and Skin Deep. Frost offers the classic folk set-up of ignorant tourists arriving in a hostile, closed community where tradition and custom carry creepy undertones. However, just as you think Frost is merely paying homage to the horrors of old, he introduces a wicked twist that many will likely see coming through the one too many clues scattered throughout the build-up. Before then descending into a comedic bloodbath similar to that found in the brilliant and underrated British/Australian gem Two Heads Creek.
There’s no question that the build-up in Get Away is better than the payoff as limbs fly, blood sprays, and more than one central character meets a sticky end. But Frost’s bravery in creating subplots that open the door to a prequel or sequel is to be commended in the closing thirty minutes, which feel like the start of something new rather than the end of a standalone movie. Of course, whether these intriguing nuggets are allowed to expand remains to be seen, but Get Away certainly opens the door to a limited series or film.
As you would expect from such a talented cast, Frost, Bea, Croft and Ayres revel in the mystery and then the mayhem, sparking off each other with some delightful one-liners as their family holiday turns into a blood-soaked banquet. At the same time, director Steffen Haars keeps the pace fast and frivolous with some beautifully timed comedic set pieces. While it’s true that many will find the finale somewhat rushed and disappointing, given the build-up, the seeds of a yet untold story sprinkled over the blood-drenched waffles keep the audience engaged. And I, for one, can only hope these untold stories see the light of day, as this family needs a further vacation.
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