Review of Sightseers (2012) by Hansflicks — 04 Jul 2013

There's something very British about a caravan holiday, though it's not quite as ubiquitous a pastime as it may once have been. Sightseers takes the mundane as a starting point and turns it on its head resulting in a darkly comic road movie that has a style all its own.

There's a very peculiar wavelength to this flick and it took a while to adjust to it. It's difficult to know what to make of it all in the first ten minutes or so as we are introduced to the characters. Alice Lowe's Tina and her domineering mother both archetypes that may ring true for some, but left me at a bit of a loss as to what the intention was. Once Chris, Tina's new boyfriend, arrives to whisk her away on a sightseeing tour of Britain, things start to slot into place and the tone of the film begins to establish itself, raising a few smiles of recognition and provoking the odd awkward squirm.

Broadly speaking, the comedy of the film is very subtle, but there are several moments that had me laughing out loud. It was only once the plot had really begun to take shape that I could fully appreciate these subtleties and stop trying to figure out what on earth it was that the movie was going for. The juxtaposition of the utter dullness of attractions such as the pencil museum and the bloodthirsty urges that simmer below the surface of the couple's average exterior are in equal parts bizarre and comical. Their conversations about the crimes committed are hilariously banal, discussing murder as though they were picking out tiles for the bathroom. It's this lack of excitement over anything that gives the flick a uniquely eccentric quality that's irresistible.

For any of this to be successful, it's essential that the performances be fitting and they most certainly are. Alice Lowe plays the sheltered little girl that never grew up with beautifully understated restraint, confusion and amazement etched on her face at the most ordinary of occurrences. At thirty-four she still lives at home, her childhood bedroom appearing to be much the same as it was the day she started school. Steve Oram's Chris is far more worldly, though just as dreary, all anoraks and sensible outdoor attire.

I can honestly say that I've never seen anything quite like this before and it left me wanting more. This kind of comedy is very dark around the edges and to some degree very specific, but the sharpness of vision is clear to see, leaving its mark on British cinema and standing out from the crowd effortlessly.