Review of Sightseers (2012) by Renee L — 16 Mar 2014

Its all happened very quickly, however Ben Wheatley is fast becoming one of my favorite modern day directors. I was first introduced through his brooding thriller Kill List, while watching it little did I think that almost 2 years later Id be head charging the Ben Wheatley band wagon.

The guy is just brilliant at his craft. Sightseers begins with Tina, a lady in her 30's that hasnt had much of a life, outside of knitting and watching over her mother, however after becoming lovers with a seemingly nice "ginger faced man" called Chris the couple decide to take his caravan and go on a tour of all these wonderful sights in england.

Sounds boring as doesnt it? Well it would be, had someone like Ben not decided to make Chris a murderer and their relationship a twisted, hilarious and competative tour de force that makes this film highly enjoyable from start to finish.

The film is full of wonderful moments, largely from its cast but every so often little bits creep up on you which have you screaming in laughter, Tina's obsession with Pot Puree takes a turn for a new height in one scene.

Even the script is full of whit and satire. "He wasnt a man, he was a daily mail reader" chris spouts after murdering someone for asking Tina to pick up dog poo. The cast are terrific Alice Lowe just does a wonderful job as a wannabe loved psychopath with a love for dogs.

its all a right hoot till the very end. The music and visual style is all very fitting and you can see glimpses for Wheatley's psychadelica from time to time creeping through, making this an even more interesting watch.

If I had to gripe about this movie it would only be slight, an oddity here and there that makes no sense or scenes where it feels like in real life it would just not that easy to get away with some of the things this couple do.

On the whole its a wonderfully crafted and acted film and has put Mr Wheatley firmly on my must watch list.