Sightseers

I'd love to go to a pencil museum! Even with a bearded ginger bloke dealing with some serious anger issues. Although I'd draw the line at wearing knitted undies including split-crotch panties. That's obviously more appropriate for the Tate Modern.

The mature part of me sympathises with the erstwhile Robin from Marian & Her Merry Men (bit of a niche reference there) getting his head smashed in for complaining about their leaving dog poo behind. As a responsible dog walker I loathe people who don't clean up after their Woofs.

The film nerd in me spots the similarity with Steve Oram brutally wielding a hefty stick and the early ape-man making a huge leap forwards in 2001: A Space Odyssey. "He's not a person, he's a Daily Mail reader." Chris justifying his oh-so-English brand of vigilantism.

Sightseers is emphatically not for your Aunt Nelly. Actually, it isn't suitable for my dad, most of the run-of-the-mill Saturday night cinema-goers, Daily Mail readers or the die-hard caravan owners who embark on such road trips. To be honest, Sightseers isn't right for many people at all; it's what you might call a niche film. It's going to satisfy a minority audience, but those few who do relish the thought of another dark, very dark, British comedy are going to absolutely delight in it.

Falling somewhere between Dexter and The League of Gentlemen (and if you don't know it, try Big Woman out for size – a Desert Island Disc if I'm ever invited on), Sightseers is a road movie about an odd couple with all manner of demons swirling around their minds. Tina (Alice Lowe) still lives with her mum, has been traumatized by the death of her dog, Poppy, and knits. Having seen nothing of the world, an invitation from her new boyfriend, Chris (Steve Oram), to join him on a caravan holiday around Yorkshire with an itinerary that includes a tram village and a pencil museum, is tantamount to a golden ticket to a new life. However, her overbearing, overly dependent witch of a mother doesn't want her to go and Chris has an angry streak with murderous consequences.

Sightseers is beautifully downbeat and both subtler and far darker than Dexter could ever manage. It never makes a big deal of being funny but casually drops in five-star moments throughout that don't always cause belly laughs but do prompt a regular supply of chuckles and wide-eyed smiles. The action, or rather certain activities by the odd couple, however, causes explosive guffaws and shrieks of delight, the bloodier the better judging from the small audience I shared the experience with. There's no judgment from me on that score, I laughed as loud as the best of them.

The first murder we enjoy is swift, but the effect lasts long and the understated humour of the act echoes some time later as Chris nonchalantly washes the remaining of the blood off his caravan wheel. His mild annoyance followed by a passing satisfaction at a job well done are precursors to the simmering rage that follows.

Sightseers doesn't skimp on the horror although director Ben Wheatley keeps the gore and actual violence to acceptable (for those with a strong stomach) levels. He has crafted some genuinely disturbing scenes that take their time building the anticipation until the inevitable and occasionally truly brutal conclusion arrives. There is one quick shot of a, um, demolished head that will have you reaching for a pause button to admire the make-up if nothing else.

But the joy of Sightseers is not in the moments of horror but in the consistency of the subtle humour from Osram's and Lowe's stinging screenplay as much as their chillingly dour performances. Their performances are never fanciful but frighteningly convincing and turn the stomach ever so slightly when one recalls brief interactions with similar characters in real life.

Sightseers invades the brain, it expulses laughter from the belly and at times it wriggles under the skin like white noise and scratches at the nerves. It isn't always easy to watch and the occasional quip is over-egged as if neither cast nor director were convinced it would work completely. It's a minor criticism and a great pity because whenever the dialogue and performances are restrained to levels of naturalism, and that occurs for a good 95% of the film, Sightseers flies. One of the funniest, non-violent moments occurs as Tina struggles to write a note with a six-foot pencil. It's a moment of genius that is allowed to play out in its own time and manner without a wink at the audience to tell us it is a good moment to laugh.

Wheatley's previous offering, 2011's Kill List, left me cold. It disturbed and annoyed in equal measures and Sightseers is a vast improvement. More than that, it's a standout film for the year and, though not quite on the humour plane of The Guard, it's the funniest film I've seen this year so far and has marked out Wheatley's follow up, A Field in England, as a film to look forward to in 2013.

After yesterday's battle with First Great Western trains and the threat of dark happenings in the company of caravanners, I think I'm going to stick to my car in future.

For more reviews from The Squiss subscribe to my blog at www.thesquiss.co.uk

Like the Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/RpitOG

Tina and Chris on the road. Caravan behind being towed. Incident on a tram. An unfortunate ram. Due to litter incongruously stowed

Tina and Chris on the road. Caravan in front being towed. An unfortunate fall. Calamitous sprawl. The price for being rather high browed

Tina and Chris at the pub. Quiet drink and a spot of pub grub. Over she goes. A splash as she throws. All because of the smallest of snubs.

Tina and Chris on a ramble. A pleasant countryside amble. Ends with a bludgeon. Hefty wooden truncheon. Locking horns with the pair is a gamble.

Tina upfront, Chris in bed. A cyclist appears up ahead. After brakes are applied. There's a body to hide. Road rage satisfied and duly fed.

Tina and Chris sit with Martin. He's unconventional and quite spartan. He'll soon meet his god. In his coffin like pod. But Chris will be irked and disheartened.

Tina and Chris viaduct. Preparing to be jointly plucked. A hell of a ride. The pair side by side. An outstanding black comical construct.

SIGHTSEERS is very much a team effort: the two stars (Alice Lowe and Steve Oram) also co-wrote the script. With a distinct nod to earlier films such as Terrence Malick's BADLANDS (1973), it focuses on two lovers, Tina and Chris, who embark on a caravanning holiday that takes a decidedly bloody turn, as they dispose of several innocent victims. Ben Wheatley's cinematic style is certainly startling, with its deliberate use of out-of-sync sound, fantasy sequences, memorable short of gore and a soundtrack that includes work by Soft Cell and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The script is deadpan yet extremely funny: both protagonists get some valuable one-liners. What is perhaps more interesting, however, is Wheatley's focus on his characters' lives; hitherto they have spent their entire existences in total anonymity: Tina has lived with her mother Carol (Eileen Davies), and lavished all her love on a favorite terrier, who was unfortunately impaled to death on some knitting-needles. The road-trip gives Tina the chance to liberate herself, just like Chris, who dreams of becoming a full-time writer after having been made redundant. The idea of "writing" is significant; it suggest the desire to leave a legacy, to inscribe oneself in the present so as to be remembered. When Chris' writing dreams come to naught, he looks for alternative ways to establish himself; hence his desire to kill so as not to be pushed around by anyone (i.e. treated as a nobody). Tina follows suit; but what Wheatley suggests is that the two of them find it very difficult to work as a team - Chris believes that Tina has plagiarized his idea, and resents her for what she has done. Two serial killers don't attract as much media attention as one. For her part, Tina learns how to acquire self-determination, even though there are moments when she doubts herself. The film's ending takes us by surprise, reminding us that the protagonists were not as much in love as we thought they were. With its Grand Guignol action taking place against a breathtaking backdrop of the rolling hills of Yorkshire and the Lake District, SIGHTSEERS is strong meat, but definitely worth staying with.

I was glad that booking this hilarious black comedy at the Melbourne International Film Festival was so worth it.

The story is centered around an odd couple; Chris (Steve Oram); who takes his girlfriend Tina (Alice Lowe) around the British towns of rural England for inspiration for a book he's writing, However their circumstances take unusual turns until things go horribly wrong.

I may of heard about director Ben Weatley's earlier films' but haven't caught up yet. This film however show he's a skilled filmmaker able to bring a promising film like this to viewers of adult comedy.

Sightseers is woefully original, full of witty dialouge, charming characters and some of the best British Black Humour I have seen in a long time if not ever. There's so many laugh out loud moments I just really feel that this film should be given a limited release in Australia. Its was such a great surprise, by far my favourite film of the Melbourne Intrnational Film Festival.

I do highly recommend this gem of recent British cinema.

4/5