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Sightseers

Release Date 30 Nov 2012 30 Apr 2013

  • User rating
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
  • Critic rating
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  88% of raters want to see this movie

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When Chris (Steve Oram THE MIGHTY BOOSH) takes his unsuspecting lover Tina (Alice Lowe GARTH MARENGHI’S DARK PLACE) on a caravanning odyssey through the British Isles, taking in the sites of Crich Tramway Museum, the Ribblehead Viaduct and Keswick Pencil Museum, the wonders of the rolling countryside soon fall under a very dark cloud. Litterbugs, noisy teenagers and pre-booked caravan sites, not to mention Tina’s meddling mother, soon conspire to send Chris, and anyone who rubs him up the wrong way, over a very jagged edge... Think Carry On Camping meets Natural Born Killers! "Completely compelling, hilarious…funny as hell" - 4 stars -Empire "Laugh-out-loud funny" - 4 stars – Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph "The funniest thing on the Croisette this year" - 4 stars – Wendy Ide, The Times

Cast:
Steve Oram | Alice Lowe | Sara Stewart | Lucy Russell

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  • Critic rating
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.

Movies.ie Critic Review

MOVIES.IE’S ONE TO WATCH
SIGHTSEERS (UK/16/88mins)
Directed by Ben Wheatley. Starring Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Eileen Davis, Richard Glover, Monica Dolan, Jonathan Aris, Richard Lumsden.
THE PLOT: It’s Badlands in the Midlands, as nerdy middle-aged lovebirds Chris (Oram) and Tina (Lowe) go more than a little nuts in May after they head off on caravan holiday together through some minor British attractions. Tina lives with her right Royle mum (Davis), a woman who isn’t about to let her daughter go without a death-rattle moan or two. The old bat may have met her match in Chris though, a man who is psychotic about good manners. Just how psychotic we soon witness, as the couple’s grand week out starts rattling up the body count…
THE VERDICT: Writers – and stars – Alice Lowe and Steve Oram first came up with the characters of misfit Brummie couple Chris and Tina 24 years ago, as a live double-act, their teaming up here with Kill List writer/director Ben Wheatley a somewhat perfect fit for this black country comedy. Think Wallace & Gromit meets Natural Born Killers. Or Terry & June: Portrait Of A Right Pair Of Serial Killers. Proving once again there’s a thin line between dark humour and blood-splattering horror, Sightseers is a deliciously evil treat, and a film that proves once again that anyone who owns a small dog is trouble. And troubled. 
RATING: 4/5

Review by P Byrne

  • Avg User rating
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.

User Reviews

    • Currently 3/5 Stars.

    Onionhead

    It might not sound much on paper, but it’s all in the delivery, the appealing lead performances combining with Wheatley's sudden tonal shifts to produce a film that’s funny, sinister and strangely moving.

    • Currently 3/5 Stars.

    Amandareid007

    hats off to Alice Lowe and Steve Oram as the least glamorous pair of killers ever to be seen on the loose, and to Eileen Davies, whose keening lament for her deceased dog is the first sound we hear in the picture – and a suitable prelude to the barking madness that follows.

    • Currently 3/5 Stars.

    Marty hanratty

    ‘Sightseers’ is a film to file alongside the likes of ‘Somers Town’ by Shane Meadows and Michael Winterbottom’s ‘A Cock and Bull Story’: a diverting, enjoyable but not entirely successful experiment, and a minor film from a major director. Someone, get this man a proper budget.

    • Currently 3/5 Stars.

    mart

    The main characters are portrayed greatly here and you get the well known case of student and mentor. If things like that happen in real life, you're not supposed to laugh, but it is OK to do so, while watching this. It's only a movie after all and that's what you should remember. Not for the little ones of course, but it is aimed at an adult crowd, who should know and be able to tell the difference between right and wrong

    • Currently 3/5 Stars.

    vu1999uk

    Very dark comedic film from the director of the unsettling Kill List, that unfortunately while enjoyable never reaches the heights of his previous film. The film never really clicks to that degree but there are still some wonderfully bizarre and black comedic moments. The two leads are both great and do their best with what could have become unlikable characters. Another wonderful ending as well.

    • Currently 3/5 Stars.

    filmbuff2011

    Ben Wheatley's third feature Sightseers follows very much in the vein of his previous efforts, Down Terrace and the superior Kill List. Taking the everyday, mundane world as his canvas, Wheatley's characters are always somewhat off-kilter. Such is the case with loved-up couple Chris (Steve Oram) and Tina (Alice Lowe). Going on their first holiday together, they grab a caravan and head out into the Yorkshire countryside to sample its more obscure tourist attractions. Not being too tolerant of his fellow sightseers, Chris starts bumping off anyone he doesn't like. Tina catches on and soon enough it's Natural Born Killers in Yorkshire - but with added black comedy and a laidback charm. Sightseers is a patchy film at best. While it may seem funny, it's not as funny as it thinks it is. Part of the problem is the two main characters - they're either very smart or very dumb depending on who they encounter. This makes them hard characters to read at times. Despite these shortcomings, Sightseers wins you over with its spirited performances and scruffy, easygoing charm. Wheatley continues to mark himself out as a name to watch, but Kill List will still be a hard film to top. For now though, Sightseers will do just fine.

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