En route to remote island Svalta in Sweden, the Smith family, dad Richard (Nick Frost), mom Susan (Aisling Bea), daughter Jessie (Maisie Ayres) and son Sam (Sebastian Croft) embark on an adventure to witness the island celebration of Karantan, a play depicting events from 1824. Having to endure a quarantine and subsequent lock-down, the events from some 200 years ago are honored by being remembered by the islanders. Unwelcome and ignored by the locals, the Smiths plan to make the best of their holiday regardless.
Set up as a run of the mill family getaway flick, the paint-by-numbers premise is spiced up with an eerie and dark undertone by way of suggesting misdoings by the inhabitants of the remote, and fictitious, Svalta. Aiming to attend the annual Karantan celebration, the Smiths rent an Airbnb in order to attend the festivities, learning that the quarantine and lock-down the inhabitants had to endure resulted in great loss to the local population and a disastrous hit to their trade.
It is revealed that the play the locals put on details how the plague all those years ago was devastating, but the subsequent lock-down was extended beyond what was necessary. At the behest and influence of British sailors, the town’s mayor was bribed into keeping the lock-down in effect, much to his own gain and at the expense of the local people.
Cleverly steering the Smith’s towards Svalta and presumably their demise, the local populace of mainland Sweden and the little island paint a very clear picture of not welcoming any guests, particularly those of British descent. Making every possible suggestion towards some form of ritualistic sacrifice at the expense of the Smith’s lives, the imminent Karantan suggests nothing less of a malicious and deplorable end to the holidaymakers.
The creepy atmosphere is perpetuated by the owner of the Airbnb Matts (Eero Milonoff) who secretly actually spies on the Smiths and plans to subdue them to satisfy his own sick fantasies. Delivering a weird and unsettling individual Milonoff depicts the amalgam of one’s worst fears when it comes to going abroad and renting a property from an eerie creep.
Rounding out the odd group of locals, Anitta Suikkari plays Klara, the island elder in charge of mounting the play. Adding to the already peculiar and erratic group of inhabitants, Suikkari further cements the impression that the Smith family is actively in danged purely by being on the island during the time of Karantan.
What ‘Get Away’ surprises with is the unexpected reveal – the Smith’s are imposters. Posing as kin, these presumably unrelated people have disguised themselves as a family, where in reality they have only gathered to commit a murder spree on the small island.
The film amps it up to 11 in it’s third act and let’s commence a bloodbath akin to a ‘Saw’ movie where everyone that passes by any member of the ‘Smith’ family is instantly sacrificed to satisfy their blood lust. Gory and streamed in blood, the film lets rip a massacre worthy of a slasher and relishes every second of it.
Save for the blood and gore, the film delivers a few solid laughs here and there, but oftentimes feels its length due to awkward pauses, resulting perhaps from improvised jokes that fail to land gracefully. A big presence in the film, carrying the laughs for the most part is Aisling Bea as Susan, affectionately referred to as mummy by the rest of the Smith’s. Delivering every interaction she has with people outside of her ‘family’, Bea plays the ultimate traitor as she eases herself into the role of a somewhat tired mother of two disaffected teenagers, absolving herself of even the slightest suggestion she may be a murderous psychopath.
Filling out the rest of the family is Maisie Ayres as Jessie and Sebastian Croft as Sam, two young adults who play beautifully off of each other and portray a believable sibling relationship, as the two bicker but ultimately stand up for each other.
With a simple enough premise and a few chuckles here and there, ‘Get Away’ surprises when the familiar concept of a group traveling to an unknown place get picked off one by one is turned on it’s head. Shocking absolutely and pleasantly surprising, the film generates some steam to push through to the end. With a few pacing issues the film feels a bit quiet at times, much to its detriment as it is unable to sustain the comedic atmosphere throughout. Maybe not an absolute riot however, the film does falter and fall dead towards the end as the mayhem winds down.
Score: 2/4
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