Reel Review: Get Away (2024)

Nick Frost leads a hilariously oblivious family into a nightmarish Swedish island vacation in the wildly entertaining “Get Away”.

Get Away is a worthwhile horror comedy that pokes fun at folk horror and slashers alike. Directed by Steffen Haars and starring Nick Frost (of Shaun of the Dead fame), it follows a family with morbid curiosities and oblivious humor, making it an instant British horror comedy gem.

The film begins with Richard, Susanne, Sam, and Jessie—a typical family going on vacation to Sweden to a place called Svalta. In their car ride, Susanne explains that 200 years ago, the island was once quarantined due to a mysterious illness, and eventually, the locals resorted to cannibalism to stay alive.

The family stops at a small restaurant and is met with dry hostility from the locals. When they ask for tickets to the ferry to visit the island of Svalta, the restaurant owner warns them not to go.

On the ferry ride to Svalta, the family is met again with hostile stares from the locals as they glare in silence at them. When they arrive at the island, it is revealed that Susanne’s great great great great grandfather died on the island, and the commune of locals remain unimpressed.

They are blatantly told they are not welcome, and right in the nick of time, their BnB host walks up and explains to the commune that everyone is welcome on the island, but it is not “their” island.

As the commune on the island prepares for Karantan, their local celebration, Richard and his family continue to struggle to have a good vacation.

On the first night, Richard and Susanne meet with torches and more threatening locals. The next morning, Jessie, the family’s daughter, expresses to her father, Richard, that she feels as if she is being watched.

It is quickly revealed that their BnB host IS indeed watching them via hidden cameras in their home. But why?

Back on the mainland, the restaurant owner is found brutally murdered. The detective soon receives word that the last family to visit the restaurant is on Svalta, and he decides to take a boat out to the island to check in on them and their safety to figure out who is killing the locals.

Get Away is funny in a way that a lot of films are not; it is very trope-reliant.

Normally, tropes in horror cue an eye roll from the audience. This film is funny because, of course, the locals are hostile, of course, the family is oblivious, and of course, there is a serial killer on the loose right as the commune prepares for a cult-like celebration.

The only gripe I have with the film is that I did see the ending coming, but it was so funny that I couldn’t be mad at it. The big reveal is met with Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden, which is incredibly hilarious and fun.

I genuinely cannot wait to watch this movie again because I know it will still be just as funny and get the same reaction as it did the first time.