Starring: Nick Frost, Aisling Bea and Sebastian Croft
Directed by: Steffen Haars
Rated: NR
Running Time: 86 minutes
Shudder
Our Score: 3 out of 5 Stars
Thanks to “The Witch” and “Midsommar,” there’s a fresh new take on folk horror. For those who don’t know, folk horror is like a fish out of water, if the fish was an English person and the water was that white person traveling to another predominantly white rural area where they discover peculiar and dated beliefs, traditions and terror. Enter “Get Away,” a film about the British Smith family traveling to a remote Swedish island, that carries a dark cannibalistic past involving the imperialistic British.
“Get Away” sees the usual tropes of the genre, unwelcoming locals with an axe to grind, rituals that make no sense to anyone outside those taking part in the ritual, and of course blood and guts. What “Get Away” offers is deadpan comedy and a tongue firmly planted deliciously in it’s own cheek. The Smiths, made up of Richard (Nick Frost), his wife, Susan (Aisling Bea) and their kids (who you can’t tell if they’re young adults or very old adolescents) seem comically oblivious to the creepiness around them. They also don’t seem to mind the “piss off” attitude of the tiny Swedish community. So why are the Smiths there? To watch a play about the horrific cannibalistic event I mentioned.
The tone of the film is off, but the comedy helps balance it from time-to-time. The comedy is along the lines of what we witnessed in Frost’s older films like “Hot Fuzz,” a film that could also be considered a mockery of folk horror if it wasn’t straight up lampooning action films. Because I mentioned “Hot Fuzz,” I almost feel obliged to say that everything feels off because there’s a few twists that “Get Away” has tucked away in it’s back pocket. Thankfully those twists are cheeky and stop the film from descending into a meandering mess.
While I enjoyed myself, I did find myself wondering if the jokes came before the story. I say that because the film flips between the narrative of the Swedish islanders and the Smiths, killing the possibility of more mystery and intrigue about what the other is actually up to. You’d think that switching narratives would mean there’s a lot of juicy meat in there, but there’s a few seemingly pointless moments. They’re made even more pointless when you consider the whole film. It’s one of those rare moments where the bloodsoaked finale not only saves the film, but weakens the first hour.
Anytime I see Nick Frost or Simon Pegg I think to myself, “Why aren’t they in more?” I’ve seen them in at least a dozen TV shows and films together, but it seems like I rarely see them without the other in anything good. I wonder if it’s like a Trey Parker and Matt Stone dynamic where they just don’t click if they’re apart. While “Get Away” is enjoyable, it feels like it could have been way better, especially if Simon Pegg or Edgar Wright had a say in the final product.