Get Away review
A horror comedy with a killer third act.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Get Away
Directed by Steffen Haars
Written by Nick Frost
Starring Nick Frost, Aisling Bea, Sebastian Croft, Jouko Ahola, Eero Milonoff, Ville Virtanen, Maisie Ayres and Anitta Suikkari
Get Away Review
Despite some concern over cost-cutting measures on Shudder…the streaming service delivered a banner year in 2024. Four of our Top Ten Movies of the Year came from Shudder. Late Night with the Devil, MadS, Oddity and Stopmotion for those keeping track. In A Violent Nature picked up a Scare Value Award for Best Kill. David Dastmalchian took home Best Actor for Late Night with the Devil. Suitable Flesh, Arcadian, Exhuma, Satanic Hispanics, Infested, You’ll Never Find Me, V/H/S/Beyond, Azrael, Rita… Shudder was full of high quality original and exclusive films in 2024. Now that we’ve turned the page to 2025…we’re all wondering what Shudder will do for an encore. It’s first release, Get Away, starts the new year off on a strong foot due to some fun performances and a wild third act.
A family of four takes a much-needed vacation to a place they aren’t wanted. The Smith family (Richard (Nick Frost), Susan (Aisling Bea), Sam (Sebastian Croft) and Jessie (Maisie Ayres)) bicker their way towards Svalta island in Sweden…just in time for the 200th anniversary of a historic pandemic. The townsfolk are not happy to see the foreigners…and the family ignores every warning and portents telling them to leave. Then the killing starts.
Get Away coasts by on the charm of its leads for a good long while. It’s a funny movie…but in a dry, light sense. At least for the first two acts. The good-natured bumbling father (Frost) forcing his children to enjoy the vacation their mother (Bea) has been desperate for. Never mind the creepy proprietor of their rental Matts (Eero Milonoff) …lurking behind a one-way mirror and stealing Jessie’s underwear. Forget about the angry townsfolk…led by Klara (Anitta Suikkari) and her sidekick Sven (Jouko Ahola). Richard and his family are going to find a way to have a good time no matter how the locals perceive their presence.
There’s enough comedy in the first hour of Get Away to keep you engaged. Even if it takes a while to present any sort of real plot beyond strangers in a strange land. Klara and company are preparing their epic play to commemorate the Karantan holiday. Matts is creeping around Jessie. An unhelpful chef at the local diner is incapable of making adequate meals. It’s all about a rough vacation for a while.
Eventually…something does happen outside of warnings and shifty looks. Detective Forsberg (Ville Virtanen) discovers a body and begins an investigation in Svalta. Klara and Matts are scheming about something for their new guests…and now there appears to be a serial killer on the loose. Richard and company appear oblivious to any of this, of course. They’re going to make this vacation work come Hell or high water. Their aloofness (or simple refusal to acknowledge danger) feeds a lot of the early comedy in Get Away. But not all of it.
The third act of Get Away changes everything. A somewhat subdued story gives way to a manic bloodbath. A wildly fun (and funny) escalation of events. A prolonged and entertaining climax well worth going out of your way to see. Chaos reigns on the island of Svalta…brining the disjointed family closer together. Some unexpected moments follow…bloody and humorous at every turn. I’d recommend going into Get Away blind…but you’ve already made it this far into the review so…my bad for not saying that up front.
The tonal shift is something to behold. Rock music ramps up, mayhem follows suit. What was a light comedy turns into a crazy ride. Get Away gets funnier (and bloodier) as it goes on. The entire third act is a riot…in both senses of the word. It feels markedly different from the first two acts…but it all feels very earned. A clever bit of work to prepare us for a narrative change we still aren’t prepared for. Get Away walks the line perfectly setting up a punchline we didn’t know it had in its bag.
Shudder’s 2025 is off to a fine start with Get Away. The recent track record of the service has rendered those cost-cutting fears a distant memory. Between high quality originals, exciting exclusives and, of course, more Joe Bob and The Last Drive-In…the current iteration of Shudder has found itself back on the right track. Get Away may not find itself in the same position as Oddity or MadS when 2025 draws to a close…but the final act is every bit as entertaining. Its ending provides a strong start to Shudder’s new year.
Scare Value
Get Away is amusing enough for the first two acts. It’s a light comedy with some genuinely funny moments. The interplay between the family carries the movie through some listless periods. Then the third act hits and the movie goes bonkers. A wildly entertaining finish lifts what came before and delivers Shudder another win to start off 2025.
3.5/5
Get Away Link
Streaming on Shudder
