Get Away is a British Horror-Comedy written by Nick Frost, who stars in it alongside Aisling Bea, Sebastian Croft, Maisie Ayres and Eero Milonoff. The movie was directed by Steffen Haars and is set to release in September 2024, followed by a December 2024 global release. The film delivers a bloody satire that twists together the themes of folk-horror with dark humor, and takes a clever spin on the ‘family-in-danger’ trope.
Marked with outrageous and gleeful violence, Get Away offers a chaotic experience that diverges from a traditional horror framework to something more peculiar and sinister.
Plot Summary
The movie begins with the Smiths – Richard, Susan, Sam, and Jessie – traveling to an undiscovered Scandinavian island named Svälta. Richard (Nick Frost) hopes that the mesmerizing island will help improve his relationship with his family, so he takes them there for vacation. They envision their getaway to enable him to spend some quality time as a family. However, the peaceful vacation escalates to chaos very quickly.
An ominous tapestry of Wild West folklore pervades Svälta, the isolatated Swedish island, as it readies for its annual cultural festival, Karantan. A hallmark of subdued yet curious folk traditions, the celebration is of zombie like propotional revelry. The Smiths’ Airbnb host, Matts (Eero Milonoff), behaves creepily— peering through windows like a weirdo and setting up two way mirrors as chance décor. Additional, strange events like dead animals appearing out of nowhere along with bizarre rituals being overly observed by the villagers piques their interest.
The first half of Get Away Studios explores and embraces Swedes’ love for horror, faux archeology, and folk traditions. It includes the narrative of ‘Stereotypical Folk Horror,’ which captures the essence of viewers being entangled in the trap locals have crafted. After this moment, Swedes set their expectations for a Wicker Man or Midsommar styled macabre eruption. Much to everyone’s surprise, the film does a nose dive rather than jump.
Flipping the script, unlike Smith’s adventurous intentions, it does not take long to realize Smith misplace countless passport stamps. Celebrated like art on social media, Smith family spirals into chaos as it reveals the family are nothing close to paragons of tourism, but instead, sickening killers, posing they masquerade as tourists. In wild rotation of circumstances, they get absurdly violent, ramping up the level of contest. Everything transforms as sleek family road trip fantasies turns into spectacles of brutal townspeople slaughtering in orchestrated despicable relentless chaos.
The riveting tale scales its peak as the residents prepare a final onslaught counteroffensive during the Karantan festival. The Smiths are fought with ultra-violent gory, cruelly humorous, and chaotically violent showdowns which the villager’s crude weapons and unnerving resolve helped them sculpt. Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills” blares and the carnage becomes pure chaos. The movie wraps up with darkly comical taints which hint that the family isn’t done with their ominous “vacation” tradition yet.
Cast & Characters
Nick Frost as Richard Smith
Frost executed a dual layered performance, starting with a loveable, but witless father who evolves into a cold and methodical executor of violence. A huge reason why the twist lands so effectively is due to his charm.
Aisling Bea as Susan Smith
Richard’s wife was portrayed by Bea who deceptively plays the concerned and docile spouse only for her bloodthirsty and military mastermind side to come out. Her sharp delivery provides most of the film’s wit aimed at the audience.
Sebastian Croft as Sam and Maisie Ayres as Jessie
The teenagers who play the smith kids are both deeply covered with the veil of teenage ‘normalcy’ until the twist happens. The jarring shift in performances from gentle to psychotic is alarming, and is delivered flawlessly thanks to both actors.
Eero Milonoff as Matts
The sinister Airbnb host. Matts, is the first decoy in the story. His unsettling nature is truly creepy, and his story arc reaches a particularly bitter end when he meets his demise after the secret of the Smith’s family is uncovered.
Themes and Tonal Shifts
Folk Horror and Subersion
Get Away begins with distinct hints of folk horror with its remote locations, pagan-like villagers, and a family that seems to be self-sufficient and has no assistance from outside. But, the movie defies conventions. It’s a refreshing take on the genre that a family turns out to be killers instead of the expected innocent victims.
Predators vs. Predators
The savagery of the Smiths is cleverly presented as the most striking narrative device of the film’s role reversal story. The Smiths do not act as targets, but instead, play the role of the threat. The so-called ‘evil villagers’ are ordinary people who are portrayed as desperate to survive. This inversion alters the entire experience of horror, forcing the viewers to rethink everything they thought they knew.
Dark Humor and Satire
The film is laden with blood and humor. Most If not all of the gory humor is always exaggerated. One of the many scenes that blur the boundary between humor and slaughter is when Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills” plays during a bloody massacre.
Direction and Visuals
The fusion of rustic folkhorror and modern-day violence is brilliantly captured in Steffen Haars’ direction. The Scandinavian landscape is stunningly shot, with wide angles capturing the dense forests and turbulent coastlines. In contrast, the violent sequences are always shot in a close up style that is intimate, fast, and grotesquely inventive. The cinematography contrasts peaceful natural beauty with horrifying brutality and adds to the unsettling atmosphere.
Both practical and digital effects were combined to create gruesome deaths ranging from beheadings to slow meticulous kills. The pacing was kept exceptionally fast throughout the second half of the film, adding bursts of unspeakable glee to the otherwise horrific moments.
Reception
Get Away was received with mixed reviews from both critics and the general audience. Some fans praised the film’s bold twist and dark humor, while others cited its fluctuating tone and slow first act as major weaknesses. The final third of the film was arguably the fan favorite, as audiences relished in the excessive violence and unexpected plots.
Others argued that the family members in particular lacked depth, feeling more like vessels of chaos rather than actual people. While some considered this detachment as part of the satire, others pointed out that what was being critiqued was the purposefully absurd entertainment.
Conclusion
Get Away is an atypical yet captivating genre-defying movie filled with immense violence. A gory holiday and horror film at best, the movie starts off with a scary (yet still relatively normal) story arch of tourist being stuck in a spine chilling town. It then shifts very quickly into a satirical portrayal of “who the real monsters are”. Get Away gives a shocking and vastly differing perception of violence through laughter thanks to Nick Frost’s menacing smile along with his committed accomplices.
Get Away is perfect for any horror veteran that is in pursuit of something fresh, gets rid of the horror cliches that are very common, and strips the vaunts of composition style of traditional horror. Despite its how horrifying their depiction might be, some horror-comedy fans might absolutely adore the level of chaos the films throws into its narrative.
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