Let’s have a moment of silence for Nick Frost’s horror movie career, which seems to have wandered into a swamp of mediocrity, almost as if he's on a mission to collect and star in forgettable movies. After the tire-screeching letdown of Black Cab (2024), we were really hoping that Get Away (2024), which is from the same year, would show some real improvements. While it shows some, this Nordic nightmare is still miles away from what we were craving.
After the success of Midsommar (2019), folk-horror madness makes it return as Sweden once again emerges as Europe's destination for the bizarre and weird. Ironically, though, the movie was actually shot in Finland.
Richard (Nick Frost) and his plucky wife, Susan (Aisling Bea), are hell-bent on crafting the ultimate family vacation as they head to the remote Swedish island of Svalta for the 200th anniversary of ‘Karatan,’ a mysterious local play that’s the heart of the island’s bizarre festivities. Before boarding the little ferry to the island, the mainland locals shoot them grim warnings to steer clear of Svalta’s shores, a caution they gladly dismiss in their excitement.
In a nutshell, Get Away doesn’t bother sweating the small stuff, like, say, a coherent plot that holds together for its 90-minute joyride. Instead, it throws itself headfirst into a carnival of exaggerated scenarios, cultural faceplants, and unhinged shenanigans. If you're someone who loves over-the-top craziness, you might end up enjoying it. But for us, we need a bit of substance to balance out the chaos, and without it, this wild ride just doesn't hit the mark.
No sooner do they step foot on the island than they’re met with a reception colder than a Swedish winter, courtesy of Svalta’s grim-faced locals. The standout? Klara (Anitta Suikkari), a deranged elderly custodian who greets Susan with a slobbering, unhinged face-lick after some bickering that’s equal parts fascinating and hilariously awkward.
You’re left wondering: since when did Sweden trade meatballs for weirdness? The family gets the stink-eye from nearly everyone, except for Matts Larsson (Eero Milonoff), the only islander who doesn’t look like he wants to bludgeon the family to death.
Let’s face it: Get Away caught your eye because of Nick Frost, the guy who slayed zombies Shaun of the Dead. He's pretty much the star here too. The rest of the family feel like his sidekicks, the +1s tagging along as they bumble through Svalta’s landscape, gawking like tourists while the islanders obsessively prep for the Karantan, a play so central it feels like their entire existence hinges on it.
Don’t go looking for deep, soulful characters in Get Away as you’ll only end up disappointed. At no point does it feel like there's a real attempt to develop any of the characters on the island of Svalta. The locals come off less like real people and more like placeholders, appearing just to loosely move the plot along.
The movie knows it’s playing with a flimsy deck and leans into its limitations, charging forward at a breakneck pace that’s honestly a blessing, given its allergy to logic. It tosses out tiny bursts of amusement, reveling in its own bonkers identity as it piles on the chaos while trying to maintain what little balance it can.
As the Karantan looms, the movie throws itself off the cliff of coherence and spirals into a finale so bafflingly ridiculous it barely resembles a story. Instead, it feels like an explosion of excess that defies explanation and sadly undermining some of the positives the movie built earlier.