GET AWAY – Review

Despite a growing sense of fatigue from too many serious and darkly comic gore-fests, I signed up to cover GET AWAY for two reasons – Nick Frost and Aisling Bea. Glad I did. Frost became a celeb primarily from serving as Simon Pegg’s lovable sidekick in SHAUN OF THE DEAD and HOT FUZZ (one of my all-time faves). 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 stand-up/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, timing the visit with an arcane festival and program that’s an homage to its history.

Before even reaching the island, they’re given the usual warnings from the usual sort of creepy locals on the landward side of the ferry that it won’t be safe to go there. A wave of hostility from the island’s denizens greets them as they disembark. 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 boarding that fateful 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, in English and Swedish with English subtitles, opens Friday, Dec. 6, in theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars