‘Get Away’ review: Nick Frost’s first solo adventure is a farce

Does the comedy folk horror of Get Away belong in the catalogue of great Nick Frost films? Sadly, no. 

From the television series Spaced to a couple of films from the Cornetto trilogy (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz), peak Nick Frost greatness occurred in collaboration with Edgar Wright as director and Simon Pegg as his onscreen partner in crime. Though they continued to work together in last of the Cornetto trilogy (The World’s End) and Pegg and Frost struck out on their own (Paul), it just was not the same. The band eventually broke up, and while Frost has written before, Get Away is his first solo feature writing credit.

Get Away is set in Sweden, mostly on Svalta, an isolated Swedish island, for Karantan, an annual eight-hour play that commemorates the Swedes revolting against British colonizers after a two-year quarantine left them with no food. On the two hundredth anniversary, mummy Susan (Aisling Bea) wants to go because one of her ancestors was one of the Red Coats, so the British Smith family are determined to attend. Just as clueless as Susan, daddy Richard (Nick Frost) and vegetarian son Sam (Sebastian Croft) are supportive and surprised that most of the locals would not welcome the villains’ descendants except for their AirBNB host, Mads Larsen (Eero Milonoff). Daughter Jessie (Maisie Ayres) is immediately suspicious and feels as if she is being watched.

Stiff upper lip.

Frost has an innately likable, charismatic presence and has a gift for coming up with terrific premises. As Richard, Frost plays the encouraging father who still has the hots for his wife, loves his little girl and is trying to not get annoyed at his son’s antics. His writing nails the British humor of an upbeat family on holiday who are unable to read the room. The Swedish locals peg him as a “four eyed pussy man,” and determined to enjoy their holiday, he does his best to just focus on family fun and not the naked hostility of everyone that crosses their path. 

Bea is pitch perfect as the mom always sporting a broad smile and finding the silver lining behind every cloud (even if it’s hiding unveiled contempt). Though she gets shaken and often becomes annoyed at Richard making her do the heavy lifting, she just keeps moving forward and appears to have zero survival instinct. Sam is more of an archetype teen who craps on everything and teases Jessie. Jessie flirts with the host, but don’t think Juliette Lewis in Cape Fear. She comes off as a more ordinary teenager (think Elliott Page in his early days): a bit inscrutable and has the range to do what needs to be done with the role. 

Aimless and abroad.

When the story switches focus from the Smiths to the Swedish locals, Frost’s pen begins to fail him and Get Away loses momentum. The complimentary robes have a design reminiscent to the ceremonial robes in Midsommar. Every Swedish character practically waves a red flag and are cartoonishly unwelcoming. Klara (Anitta Suikkari), the custodian of the island’s cultural customs, wants to celebrate Karatan the old-fashioned way, which has not been done in thirty years. Meanwhile, Mads is just an ignorant perv who just wants visitors to satisfy his desires. Points deducted for obeying outdated tropes about predators wearing women’s underwear. Also casting Milonoff (who may seem familiar for appearing in Border) felt like a dead giveaway that his character would have a twist. There is more than one and everyone is just going through the motions to reach the last half hour for a bloody, mayhem filled denouement. 

Dutch director Steffen Haars, cinematographer Joris Kerbosch and editor Brian Ent do their best to hold up their end of the bargain. The film is prettier than it has any right to be, and the visual punchlines enjoy contrasting the British cheer and lightness with the overwhelming dour Nordic tone set over a blood-soaked canvas littered with body parts. Unfortunately, the joke is a bit one note and goes on too long even with a short runtime of 86 minutes. The material just does not support the gag. Get Away is the second joint effort between Haars and Frost after Krazy House and while their second film is far from a failure, it does not live up to its potential. 

The good ol’ days.

The Cornetto trilogy worked because the narratives were rooted in realistic scenarios filtered through a sensational genre lens to amplify issues of growing pains for adults in a society where the protagonist does not fit in. Get Away just has too many dueling twists. The sole anchor rests in the superficial family dynamic. The story’s backbone is based on the sinister occupation of the British with scrappy indigenous turning the tables. While no one comes to a movie for historical realism, and setting the film in Sweden is a great horror reference, the setup doesn’t work because the culture clash doesn’t feel plausible. Also the movie was filmed in Finland, and most of the actors are Finnish. If there is a lesson, which seems unlikely, it is an ugly one, and a lot of effort to create an alternative history that seems duplicative.

Airbnb horror is becoming a thing with Barbarian, Holistay, Welcome Home, and The Strangers: Chapter 1.  The idea of paying to get killed on your day off seems particularly egregious.  Get Away may not work because the story is juggling too many plotlines: psycho killer, a predatory host, cannibal descendants who hate the British, and the Brits who are using tourism to occupy spaces where they are not welcome while forcing their interpretation of history on others’ land and their sacred cultural spaces. The plot is too busy to truly enjoy, and the filmmakers are more interested in the last half hour than how it gets there.

The bottom line.

Get Away has a talented cast and is beautifully shot, but it is impossible to get scared when the tension is on the surface. It has some laughs, but the idea of frightening, maniacal foreigners feels overdone when the story shifts its focus on the Swedes. There was some promise of making the island into a haven for theater kids entirely too committed to the bit, but it gets diluted into the mystery of whether they are more than hostile and an actual threat to the Brits. The movie could have worked if the narrative stuck with the family, but then the story would need to elaborate more into their background or flesh out their world. Frost needs to work on world building and streamline his concepts into a cohesive whole. For a story to work, it is about the journey, not the destination. 

Get Away is now playing in select theaters. You can watch the trailer here.

Images courtesy of IFC Films. You can read more articles by Sarah G. Vincent here.