‘Get Away’: Review

Dir: Steffan Haars. UK. 2024. 86mins

Early on in this British horror comedy, a character notes, with no small degree of disdain, that his family has accidentally “come on holiday to a Swedish horror film”. One of several funny moments in an otherwise uneven story about an English family who vacation on a remote Swedish island with decidedly unfriendly locals, Get Away stars UK comic staple Nick Frost opposite Ireland’s Aisling Bea.

 The film’s tonal swerves undermine its more original aspects

Directed by Steffan Haars, who also made sitcom spoof Krazy House with Frost this year, Get Away premiered at Fantastic Fest and has a US release from November 6 through IFC Films before heading to Shudder in 2025. In the UK, it launches on Sky Cinema only on January 10. Solid word of mouth – especially about the film’s out-of-left-field final act — could help it find an audience, particularly on the smaller screen.

Best known internationally for starring alongside Simon Pegg in Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy, Nick Frost both writes and stars here, playing socially awkward family man Richard, married to the outgoing Susan (Aisling Bea) and parent to less-than-enthusiastic teens Sam (Sebastian Croft) and Jessie (Maisie Ayres). The family is holidaying on the fictional Swedish island of Svalta (the film shot in Finland) and Richard and Susan are determined to enjoy their break, despite emphatic warnings from everyone they meet, from a grizzly cafe owner to the ferry steward, that they should stay away.

So far, so familiar. And, initially at least, the point of Frost’s screenplay (his first solo script after co-writing Cuban Fury and Paul), seems to be about unashamedly embracing the well-trodden cliches of the genre; the hapless tourists straying into dangerous territory, the hostile cloistered community with their creepy customs. And Susan is resolute that the family take in the local ‘Karantan’ festival — held to commemorate a 19th century tragedy in which many islanders died after they were forcibly quarantined by English soldiers during a flu epidemic.

Get Away attempts to blend Withnail-like irreverence with Wicker Man-tinged folk horror but, while some of those elements hit their mark, the film’s tonal swerves undermine its more original aspects. Anitta Suikkari gives her all as the increasingly unhinged leader of the commune, while Border’s Eero Milonoff is quietly menacing as Air BnB host Matts — who seems to have taken a leaf out of the Norman Bates playbook — but the real meat of the film is in the family dynamics. 

Frost and Bea have an easy chemistry as Richard and Susan, but Heartstopper star Croft and Ayres shoulder the majority of the comedy. They spark off each other as they navigate their fractious sibling rivalry, strained relationship with their parents, the bizarre locals and, worst of all, the lack of wi-fi. While the screenplay may play up the laughs, elsewhere the focus is darker, as DP Joris Kerbosch’s camera stalks the forest and prowls the halls of the looming Air BnB.

Less effective is the string-heavy score from British music duo Hybrid, which screeches its alarm at every opportunity. The horror and comedy never quite gel, and it’s not long before the pace begins to drag — despite the brisk running time.

With the island being so small and the characters being so broad, there’s not far for the story to go. A breakneck tonal shift brings about a display of extreme violence and gore, with a revelation intended to reframe everything that has come before, but the shot of adrenaline is too late to revive the flagging narrative. The crowd-pleasing FX-heavy, blood-spattered final reel feels not so much like a climax, but like the start of another, more interesting film.