Want to hear more from the actors and creators of your favorite shows and films? Subscribe to The Cinema Spot on YouTube for all of our upcoming interviews!
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
Horror comedies have been around for decades and have undergone various periods. For example, Joe Dante and Chris Columbus’ Gremlins and Sam Raimi and Scott Spiegel’s Evil Dead II told remarkable stories while maintaining amusement in viewers in proper 1980s fashion. The Wayans Brothers’ Scary Movie series with Anna Faris and Regina Hall, as well as Edgar Wright’s Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy—Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End—with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost marked a peak in parody cinema. By comparison, more recent horror comedies have marked a transition from parody to satire, where horror media and current events have been critiqued rather than mocked. Director Steffen Haars and screenwriter Frost return to these roots in their horror comedy film, Get Away. Originally titled Svalta, the film offers a brilliant lens into the folk horror subgenre through a compelling story.
Get Away is written by Nick Frost and directed by Steffen Haars.
In this review, I will discuss Steffen Haars and Nick Frost’s Get Away. As this article’s title suggests, no spoilers will be present.
IFC Films and Shudder’s Get Away Logline
According to IFC Films Press, here is the official logline for Steffen Haars and Nick Frost’s horror-comedy feature film, Get Away.
A family’s vacation to a remote getaway takes an unexpected turn when they discover the island they’re on is inhabited by a serial killer.
IFC Films Press
Discussion
We’ve come on a holiday to a Swedish horror film.
Sam (Sebastian Croft)
Frost’s screenwriting on Get Away is intelligent work. On first viewing, the film plays out like a typical family trip to a foreign land. However, on a subsequent watch, it’s nice to see how the writer-actor-producer builds up to the final act. Haars’s film paces briskly, so much so that the only apparent narrative issue is the lack of development in the local characters. The name change from Svälta to Get Away is also necessary, with the former being defined as “to starve, to famish … a secluded Swedish island…” This small bit still applies to the narrative to some degree, but the current title seems to have a stronger double meaning.
The story possesses subtle messaging in the different forms of foreshadowing from how the Smith family members converse with one another to director of photography Joris Kerbosch’s specific framing of them in various rooms and spaces. Frost employs certain narrative devices and tropes that horror fans have detected in folk horror titles such as The Wicker Man, Midsommar, and more recently, In A Violent Nature. Get Away utilizes kairos and the presence of archetypes to convey a wider understanding of what is at stake.
Simultaneously, the comedy aspect is quite genuine, such as in Matts Larsson’s (Eero Milonoff) interactions with the Smiths. Kerbosch knows how to capture the characters in different shots, and occasionally editor Brian Ent cuts scenes together to deliver a good punchline like in Richard Smith’s (Frost) conversations with his daughter Jessie (Maisie Ayres) or Larsson. The delivery in Get Away is often reminiscent of how it was done in, say, Shaun of the Dead. Frost knows that fans miss this era of horror, and he shares these sentiments in his current work.
The Devil’s in the Details
Get Away may not be the quintessential horror comedy for everybody, yet it leans toward semi-perfection in the minutiae. Music supervisor Michelle De Vries’s help with the song selection and composer Hybrid’s soundtrack are fantastic elements. “Summer Holiday” by Cliff Richard and the Shadows is a delightful opener that appears to mirror the introduction of the Wilson family in Jordan Peele’s Us. Get Away opens similarly—the father toying with the radio in the driver’s seat, his wife shotgunned in the passenger’s seat, and the children sat at the back. “Run to the Hills” by Iron Maiden is upbeat in contrast, and the final two tracks in the film play well into the fictitious folklore.
The surreal composition of the family sleeping in bed on their first night in Svälta is eerie but doesn’t arouse horror. In juxtaposition, the guitar instrumental during a family hike returns to that “positivity in a clichéd moment” element that the opener has. The gradually beat drums towards the beginning of the final act are a great signal of the narrative slowly unfolding on the characters and the viewers.
Production designer Pirjo Rossi et al’s set pieces are not extravagant by any means, but their placements are appreciative. The outdoor theater by the water is crisp and alluring, especially in how locals tell the history of their island. Larsson’s and his mother’s homes are lovely set pieces resting on a grassy slope with sufficiently simple interiors, revealing little about their past. Other locations invite exploration, like Susan Smith’s (Aisling Bea) search for her ancestor’s gravesite.
The Crew Behind Get Away
Joris Kerbosch serves as the director of photography.
Annamaria Palsi-Ikonen serves as the stills photographer.
Brian Ent is the film’s editor.
Hybrid—Mike and Charlotte “Lottie” Truman—score the soundtrack. Michelle De Vries serves as the music supervisor.
Alex Outhwaite serves as the supervising sound editor. Ed Trousseau is the sound effects editor.
Melissa Kostenbauder serves as the casting director. Jaana Salminen and Sanna Sorvoja are the Finland casting directors.
Jouni Kivimäki and Iiro Heikkilä serve as the stunt coordinators.
Reka Kontio serves as the stunt supervisor. Oula Kitti (Hatching, Sisu) serves as the fight coordinator.
Jenna Antila plays Aisling Bea’s stunt double. Pekka Vuoriluoma plays Nick Frost’s body double.
Mila Lappalainen and Sanni Antikainen play the body doubles for the “Goose” character.
Aesthetics
Pirjo Rossi serves as the production designer.
Aki Tarkka serves as the art director. Rhea Pölkki serves as the set decorator.
Janne Karjalainen and Riitta Peteri serve as the costume designers.
Tytti Vaaleri serves as the hair, makeup, and prosthetics designer.
Milana Keskikastari, Mari Piira, Iida Rajaviita, and Jenni Aejmelaeus-Pyysing are the hair, makeup, and prosthetics artists. Hanna Ilkko is the makeup and hair artist.
Dasha Sherman serves as the visual effects producer.
Menelaos Pampoukidis serves as the VFX supervisor. From Koala FX, Artem Isaakyan serves as the VFX supervisor.
The Cast of Get Away
Nick Frost (Spaced, the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, Paul, Attack the Block) portrays the family patriarch, Richard. Aisling Bea (Living with Yourself) portrays Richard’s wife, Susan.
Sebastian Croft (Game of Thrones Season 6, Dampyr, Heartstopper) portrays the family’s son, Sam. Maisie Ayres portrays Richard and Susan’s daughter, Jessie.
Eero Milonoff portrays Matts Larsson, a Swedish man whose mother’s home the family rents.
Anitta Suikkari portrays Klara, an elder of Svälta. Jouko Ahola plays Sven.
Ville Virtanen plays Detective Forsberg.
Verneri Lilja plays Ingemar, a young restaurant cook in Svälta.
Kari Kinnari plays Martin, a local dressed as a “spider-man”.
Ilkka Koivula and Maria Järvenhelmi portray the owner and wife of Kafé Kapten, respectively.
Petteri Kaukoranta, Mika Hakanpää, Petteri Hiltunen, and Tapio Teräs play English Sailors #1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively.
Tero Jartti plays Johan, a local drunkard. Karoliina Blackburn plays Ingrid.
Ari Murto plays a ferry captain, while Veera Anttila plays a ferry ticket girl.
Performances and Character Developments
Although Get Away does not provide a prolonged play on Svälta’s history, what it does exhibit helps corroborate the errors in Susan’s roots. Not much is told about Bea’s character and her ancestral ties to the island, but the actor makes do with the script given by playing off of her co-stars as if an actual matriarch. Plus, Bea looks even more attractive when holding a straight razor, but to each their own.
What feels so lovable about Nick Frost as a character actor is how much of a good guy mask Richard Smith wears around his family. The actor has played cordial roles before, e.g. Ed in Shaun of the Dead or Clive Gollings in Paul. To see the patriarch go from non-confrontational to triggered by even the slightest inconvenience is a neat sight done finely. Frost showcases a side of himself that I have not seen thus far. In watching Get Away, fans will be rewarded by what he brings to the table.
Maisie Ayres’s performance in the role of Jessie Smith is attention-grabbing for a final girl archetype. The character is observant when necessary and exists in a few of the film’s authentically funny scenes. Watching her on-screen feels as if watching Goldilocks and the Three Bears settle into their home but aim to fix what is wrong with their environment. Jessie’s curiosity is an important driver of her ethos as it solidifies her as a pivotal protagonist in the plot. I enjoy Ayres’s promise as an actor and hope to see more of her in the near future.
Final Thoughts on Steffen Haars and Nick Frost’s Get Away
Nick Frost doesn’t have many screenwriting credits, but with Get Away, there is potential for the horror comedy icon to create strides in the subgenre. Again, the only part I feel is left out is a fleshed-out story that could further demonstrate the rise in tension between the Swedish locals and the English protagonists. With that said, everything feasible about Haars and Frost’s film is due to its naturally clever nature in moving from one beat to the next, from one point to the next. Whereas the United States has Ready or Not, Europe has this film.
4.5/5 stars
Get Away is now playing in theaters in Canada and the United States and will stream via Sky Cinema on January 10th, 2025 and Shudder sometime in 2025!
For more comedy and horror-related news and reviews, follow The Cinema Spot on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Bluesky! Also, follow us on Letterboxd for further feature film, short film, and limited series reviews!
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
