Movie review - Get Away

Get Away **** (out of 5) Despite a growing sense of fatigue from too many serious and darkly comic gorefests, I signed up for this one for two reasons – Nick Frost and Aisling Bea. Glad I did. Frost became a celeb primarily as Simon Pegg’s lovable sidekick in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Both were written by Pegg and Edgar Wright, leading to several other worthy collaborations from the three pals. This time Frost as writer and star proves he can stick the landing in that genre just fine on his own. Delightful Irish standup/actress Bea plays his wife, as they and their two (typically surly) teenagers travel from England to Sweden for the eponymous vacation. They decided on a remote island with an arcane annual program as an homage to its history.

Before even reaching the island, they’re given the usual warnings from the usual sort of creepy locals that it won’t be safe to go there. A wave of hostility greets them as they disembark the ferry. It starts to seem as if 2019’s Midsommar will be a romcom by comparison to what’s in store for these innocents abroad, and another gut punch to the Swedish tourism industry. Maybe that’s why they shot it in Finland. The title serves double duty as describing the break from routine they’re seeking, and the wisdom of doing a 180 before stepping onto the boat.

No more details can be included without spoiling what I found so enjoyable about the proceedings. It’s every bit as twisted, hilarious and gory as the aforementioned titles, while simultaneously delivering on and spoofing its morbid, grisly genre. See it before you learn more about the plot. And don’t bring the faint of heart with you.

(Get Away, mostly in English with some subtitled Swedish, opens in theaters 12/6/24)