FANTASTIC FEST: ‘Get Away’ Is Nick Frost At His Finest

Actor Nick Frost and director Steffen Haars are back together again after Krazy House (which had its North American debut at Sundance.) But this time, Frost is doing more than leading the cast of Get Away (2024). He also wrote it.

Frost plays Richard, the patriarch of a family of four, a clumsy and adorable dad who loves his family. And, well, they need a vacation. Richard, wife Susan (Aisling Bea), son Sam (Sebastian Croft), and daughter Jessie (Maisie Ayres) chart their path to the quiet and small Swedish island of Svälta. Warned by mainlanders to avoid the island during the Karantan festival, the English family won’t have their holiday getaway ended by a couple of rude Swedes.

However, the warnings may carry some weight since the Smiths have chosen an island marred by tragedy. The Karantan festival marks the quarantining of Svälta, which led to starvation and cannibalism when the English chose to exploit the island. But to the Smiths, it’s just a play, and the idyllic fishing village is just what the doctor ordered, even if the ferry ride to the island is one of the most uncomfortable they’ve done.

The commune isn’t just unwelcoming from the moment the family sets foot on the island; they’re hostile. Focused on making the family leave before the festival, the commune does what it can to spook them. They stand outside their Airbnb with torches, they leave dead animals on their porch, and they generally shun them. But the oblivious English family just doesn’t seem to care.

Part willful ignorance and part superiority complex, the Smiths choose to just get along with their holiday. They’re unbothered by the lack of internet and cell phone reception or the fact that they can’t even order a waffle. The isolation is what they came to Svälta for anyway.

The family dynamic is humorously problematic, but the constant ribbing and mean-spirited jokes always seem to land. Instead of leaning too far into shock, the film’s humor stays close to home with generational one-liners, observational comedy, and hard pivots that pull it all together. As Richard, Frost is at his best, made even more fantastic because he wrote the film’s script. While Richard’s constant airheaded dad humor keeps the film soft (yes, even in the third act), the attention to existing horror and thriller tropes helps create a skeleton for a skewering of expectation.

The rest of the family plays their parts brilliantly, with Maisie Ayres as Jessie, who is an absolute standout, especially as a younger cast member. She’s crass, completely over it all, and fearless. For his part, Sam is essentially the uninterested vegetarian son who always seems to have a problem. Then, there is Aisling Bea, Susan, as the matriarch. A hilarious woman (even if unintentionally), Susan can’t help but make your eyes roll as you let out a snicker. Entirely out of touch, where Richard’s disconnect comes from a dad-based kindness, Susan is self-centered to the point of making an already bad impression worse.

As a whole, the entire Smith family works perfectly. But the real magic of the film comes when the commune and the Smiths meet head-on. The commune’s leader is a surly old woman dedicated to the old ways, the rest of the town follows her push to shun the English, and then there is their creepy Airbnb host, who just gets increasingly more unsettling as the film progresses. The awkwardness throughout Get Away is why it works. Every joke feels just off-kilter enough that it becomes grounded in reality.

A thriller-comedy with a bit of bite, the execution of the third act turn may be slightly too quick, but the payoff is fun mayhem all the same. I laughed, I jumped, I was slightly confused, and all of that made Get Away an interesting take on a small town and the idea that you can never truly fit in.

Get Away (2204) screened as a part of Fantastic Fest and will be distributed by IFC Films.