Sightseers (from director of Kill List)

Sad Professor

Black comedy about a caravan holiday that takes a strange turn. Directed by Ben Wheatley who made last year's Kill List. Should be out here in late November.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIh-LlbtFks

frag420

Really enjoyed Kill List last year.

Looking forward to seeing this..................

johnny_ultimate

Been looking forward to it since I heard it was on the way - early word was very positive too.

Given Kill List's penchant for the unexpected, I'll be avoiding marketing materials wherever possible!

johnny_ultimate

Anyone else win tickets for the premiere from JDIFF?

Can't wait, very excited to see what Wheatly did next. Although unfortunately couldn't avoid the trailer as it played in front of something at the Horrorthon

johnny_ultimate

Apologies for the three posts in a row, I won't post anything else until someone else responds :P

This is by no means a bad film, in fact it's a rather good one, but I can't help but feel just the slightest bit underwhelmed following Grainne Humphrey's hyperbolic introduction tonight and indeed my own personal expectations following the giddy creativity of Kill List. What it is is a comedy with depth - while it isn't above frequent bursts of broad humour (perhaps too fond of broad humour, in fact), there are curious themes and ideas bubbling beneath the surface. It's clearly the work of Wheatley - another pitch-black working-class revenge fantasy. It's well acted, well directed / edited (there's some terrific montages, recapturing that manic intensity of Wheatley's last film) and it's completely self-aware. There's some nice subtle tricks - Wheatley insightfully elaborating in the pre-film Q&A on the narrative and thematic subtleties of the soundtrack - and the ending is pitch-perfect.

So I definitely liked it. And yet... I think it's biggest crime is that while it certainly has scattered laughs throughout, it's never more than fleetingly funny. A lot of jokes fall flat, and while there's some stand outs -

a brilliantly weird sex scene and perhaps the funniest argument about accidentally discovered photographs you'll ever see

- it often feels like there's room to expand on the jokes and situations. As if the writers (also the stars) could have played the provocateur to an even greater degree. There are definitely cleverer themes that emerge in the film's second half. The core conflict that emerges between the two leads is actually quite smart, yet the film's murderous streak also grows dull and even one-note

(although that smashed face - **** me!)

.

It's actually hard to reason out why I didn't like it as much as I'd hoped, but I don't think I was alone - the audience certainly wasn't in hysterics, even if they were chuckling healthily when required. Sightseers is undeniably good fun, and perhaps that's good enough?

losthorizon

Read the review on Friday and it was very positive. If it comes to the local cinema I'm definitely going although there is no sign of it yet.

When it comes down to it I will always put the independent film first as the major films always turn up on TV at a watchable hour.

It looks like my kind of quirky film.

Fysh

I saw this last night, and while it was enjoyable I'm still a little disappointed. It's a very different type of film to Kill List, which is in one sense a good thing - but it feels a lot more sparse and thin than Kill List. I've been looking forward to re-watching Kill List and seeing what I pick up on it, whereas Sightseers, even with its short running time (88 mins according to IMDB, but it felt a lot shorter), just doesn't feel like it would reward a second viewing.

I like my black humour and there are some good laughs to be had in here - but there are also some missed opportunities, a few too many scenes that don't really do anything, and an over-reliance on one central gag that kind of falls flat, rather than transcending to a truly surreal hilarity. The ending of the film is telegraphed, and it just sort of judders to a halt at that point. The two leads are very good and have decent chemistry between them, which really helps certain jokes work brilliantly.

It's worth a watch, but having seen the trailer for Seven Psychopaths ahead of the screening, I suspect I will enjoy Seven Psychopaths a lot more and Sightseers will suffer by comparison. I don't think it's as strong a film as Kill List, chiefly because there's just not enough meat to the script. I'm inclined to agree with my brother's verdict on it - which was that it felt like a feature-length film that probably should've remained a short.

johnny_ultimate

I really am struggling to see where some of the more rabidly favourable reviews are coming from - and it's a shame, because it's a perfectly grand little black comedy, just nowhere near the level some critics are suggesting. I fully agree the core 'joke' wears thin as the film progresses, although at least there are frequent attempts (semi-successful) to add some sort of contextual depth to proceedings.

Still, that montage after the first murder is brilliantly demented

Fysh

Yeah, the critics seem to be falling over themselves to spaff favourable reviews of this all over the place and it's a bit weird. It's grand as a piece of black comedy, but it's on a par with A Film With Me In It, rather than up there with the likes of Dogtooth. I suspect had the same film been released without the cachet of "From the director of Kill List" the reviews would be a bit more balanced.

johnny_ultimate

Time Out IMO got it dead right with their review: http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/92995/sightseers.html Pretty much exactly my opinions on it.

If I was to use a comparison, it would be God Bless America, even though this is a much, much better film than that. They both attempt to shock through humour, but when the shocks become strangely routine it significantly dilutes the impact. Unlike, say, Super which still had me gasping with surprise a good seventy, eighty minutes in.

Crooked Jack

Im coming pretty late to this but I just saw Sightseers this week and I have to say, it's my favourite film of the year so far (even though, it technically came out last year.)
I thought it was absolutely hilarious, brilliantly demented and kind of beautiful in its own weird way.
I could have happily watched it again as soon as it was over.

Crooked Jack

Fysh wrote: »

Yeah, the critics seem to be falling over themselves to spaff favourable reviews of this all over the place and it's a bit weird. It's grand as a piece of black comedy, but it's on a par with A Film With Me In It, rather than up there with the likes of Dogtooth. I suspect had the same film been released without the cachet of "From the director of Kill List" the reviews would be a bit more balanced.

I didnt think all that much of Kill List. I mean, I liked it but I certainly didnt get what everybody was blowing their loads over.
Kill List should be repackaged with "From the director of Sightseers" on the front.