Sightseers

Name: Sightseers
Genre: Comedy
Released: May 10, 2013
Duration: 88 min
Rating: 69
Cast: Alice Lowe, Eileen Davies, Jonathan Aris, Kenneth Hadley, Monica Dolan

2013

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Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 44 Ratings

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6.5

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6.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 44 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

IFC Films | Release Date: May 10, 2013 | Not Rated

Starring: Alice Lowe, Eileen Davies, Jonathan Aris, Kenneth Hadley, Monica Dolan, Richard Lumsden, Steve Oram, Tony Way

Summary: Chris wants to show girlfriend Tina his world, but events soon conspire against the couple and their dream caravan holiday takes a very wrong turn.

Director: Ben Wheatley

Genre(s): Comedy

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 88 min

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Critic Reviews

100

RogerEbert.com Sheila O'Malley

Jun 11, 2013

Director Wheatley has already shown his aptitude for sardonic horror-commentaries, and Sightseers is his best film to date. Sightseers is dark, gruesome, blithely amoral and thoroughly entertaining. Read full review

100

The Playlist James Rocchi

Apr 9, 2013

Sightseers homicidal holiday isn't just a pitch-black comedy made with skill, will and brains; it's also another demonstration that Wheatley is, to use an all-too-appropriate phrase, going places. Read full review

IndieWire Eric Kohn

Apr 9, 2013

He's still cultivating his storytelling abilities, but Wheatley has clearly found his sweet spot: a darkly funny place with serious potential. Read full review

Ty Burr

May 16, 2013

Darkly funny though it is, Sightseers has undercurrents of genuine and very British weirdness...Way down beneath the whimsy is a class rage as heartfelt as it is warped. Read full review

Zachary Wigon

May 9, 2013

Sightseers is a jet-black comedy that understands exactly how absurdist it is, and its murders are always played for laughs. Read full review

Kyle Smith

May 9, 2013

What begins as an alert and witty barbed satire degenerates into a senseless bloodbath in the black comedy Sightseers. Read full review

Rex Reed

May 7, 2013

Sightseers is a morose, unsettling blend of pathology for sport and murder for laughs. Read full review

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User Reviews

DawdlingPoet

Nov 22, 2021

This is a somewhat typical British dark comedy film, where the setting doesn't really match the tone of the film at all. It may appear a bit mundane but then I suppose it gives the more surprising plot twists more of an edge when they suddenly appear (I won't give any precise spoilers, so asThis is a somewhat typical British dark comedy film, where the setting doesn't really match the tone of the film at all. It may appear a bit mundane but then I suppose it gives the more surprising plot twists more of an edge when they suddenly appear (I won't give any precise spoilers, so as hopefully not to, you guessed it, spoil it).

I found the dialogue a little hard to follow in parts as characters can be a bit mumbly at times. Also, any film that features deadpan delivery of the place name 'dingly dell' gets at the least a smirk from me. Speaking of that, I also thought it was amusing (to an extent) just that its set on a caravan park - maybe that says more about me? I don't know, you can make your own mind up about that (or not). There's a quirky sense to it, even if it is both mundane and features deadpan unemotional dialogue. There is some relatively violent (including bloody) visual imagery present, so it's not ideal for the especially squeamish but I certainly wouldn't say its a run of the mill slasher type film either. It's definitely not. I've seen a few Bean Wheatley films and this is my favourite out of them. I also thought that Alice Lowe gave a particularly good performance as Tina, a constantly concerned/angry/on edge lady and the main female character.

I liked the music used, which has a slightly doom-laden feel to it, without being too over the top (believe it or not) and I thought the end scene was quite memorable - it has something of an artistic feel to it almost. I would recommend this film, yes.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

nutterjr

May 18, 2013

Ben Wheatley drew my attention with his last outing 'Kill List', a twisted layered horror film and was very keen to see his follow up. This time around the horror is portrayed through a very dark and sinister British "comedy". The lead characters are delightfully wicked in a story wellBen Wheatley drew my attention with his last outing 'Kill List', a twisted layered horror film and was very keen to see his follow up. This time around the horror is portrayed through a very dark and sinister British "comedy". The lead characters are delightfully wicked in a story well woven and with a wonderful build up and a brilliant ending. Can't wait to see what Ben will bring us next.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

geewah

Jan 21, 2021

The type of movie the British have always excelled out, demented dark comedies. And this road trip come serial killer flick is a fine addition to other black comedies from the UK.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

HansFlicks

Jul 5, 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 veryThere'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.… Expand

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python2000

Feb 17, 2014

Sightseers has possibly the biggest change in tone of any movie ever. In the first 20 minutes it goes from being bizarre and reasonably upbeat to being bizarre and very very dark. But quite funny.

By way of laughs I wasn't exactly satisfied, out of the moments which I did laugh at, theSightseers has possibly the biggest change in tone of any movie ever. In the first 20 minutes it goes from being bizarre and reasonably upbeat to being bizarre and very very dark. But quite funny.

By way of laughs I wasn't exactly satisfied, out of the moments which I did laugh at, the jokes were usually witty and clever. However in some places it got unpredictably juvenile and lost it's intelligence, this did not happen a lot only in the more mature scenes but I felt the movie could have done without it. Apart from being entertaining as a simple comedy, Sightseers is also very arty and was even shown at Cannes. This is probably because of the brilliant cinematography in the worryingly funny murder scenes. It was at the same level as the masterful camera angles Stanley Kubrick used in such as A Clockwork Orange and The Shining.

Sightseers is a chilling and very funny black (not bleak) comedy which succeeds at being serious and realistic but enjoyable at the same time. The phrase strangely enjoyable has never been so fitting. Much like the close to perfect 2013 movie Don Jon, I was almost ashamed to laugh in Sightseers. That doesn't stop me recommending it.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

BrianMcCritic

Dec 28, 2013

This is an interesting horror/dark comedy that just falls short. I just couldn't get around the needless murdering of just random people to recommend this film.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

retnop

Jun 17, 2013

This is a bad film.. the best I can say about it is;" lovely tour of the English countryside despite the disturbing sexual content and graphic psychotic violence."

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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