Tainted Love

Sightseers

Dir: Ben Wheatley

Stars: Steve Oram, Alice Lowe, 'Smurf' The Dog

After directing the unforgettably dark and suffocating Kill List, you can’t blame Ben Wheatley for wanting to return to his comedy roots. His latest feature, Sightseers, manages to maintain all the trademark brutality and amorality of its predecessor - with Steve Oram and Alice Lowe’s witty script and impeccably developed characters providing great company for 90 minutes of shocked gasps, hearty laughs and guilty chuckles.

Sightseers introduces us to a thirty-something Brummie couple who are set to begin their relationship with a caravan holiday around the British countryside. Enthusiastic Chris (Oram) wants to show naïve Tina (Lowe) the luscious country he adores; yet as they progress on their tour of Little England’s quirkiest sightseeing spots (Crich Tramway Museum, Muncaster Owl Centre, Keswick Pencil Museum) the frustration of keeping their relationship exciting, whilst having to suffer their annoying fellow campers, leads Chris and Tina on a macabre journey of nihilistic violence and murder.

A product of the writers’ seven-year comedy tour, Chris and Tina are an original and enjoyable pair of oddball characters, with every one of their utterances and interactions guaranteed to ease a smile on the faces of the audience. One a dedicated lover, and respecter, of what he sees as the majestic English countryside, the other a shy and awkward dog psychologist – the pair are so pathetically out of touch with reality that they are destined to be together. Yet when they face the inevitable challenges presented by their burgeoning relationship, the romance gradually descends into psychopathic violence. It is here that the laughs get darker, but louder, as the repressed couple’s caravaning romp across a country full of obnoxious litterers, middle-class boasters and yuppie ramblers leads them down a path of homicide and arson.

Not since executive producer Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz has a film so amusingly captured the dark irony present in how the Little English view their world. Ben Wheatley was undoubtedly the perfect choice to direct this wonderfully witty script, and manages to terrifically balance both shock and humour. With the nights drawing in, and the cold and wet winter upon us, Sightseers is a delightfully dark comedy that will warm audiences with its many, many laughs.

9 / 10